Cheerleaders
by hanahugs
Summary: Elena is sent to a girls' boarding school, telling everyone the reason behind it was her "immature behavior" at her last school. But is she who she pretends to be? / Arriving at boarding school, Elena joins the cheerleader squad and meets arrogant basketball player Damon Salvatore on her first day. Will he make her life better or even worse? rated m for later chapters.
1. Chapter 1 - The Beginning

**CHEERLEADERS**

_Your name is Elena Gilbert. You are 16 years old. Your dad is a workaholic who's shipped you off to boarding school and your mom's passed away when you were just a little girl. Your middle name is Jane. You were born in Massachusetts and you have spent your childhood there. After your dad had taken over the company, you both moved to New York. Because of your immature behavior, your dad decided to send you to the all girls' boarding school where your mom used to go to, _Elena perused and took a deep breath. She stood in front of her first period classroom knowing she was already running late—on her first day at the new school. She'd just arrived half an hour ago and couldn't even unpack her stuff or see her room. Everything had to go fast. With a look on the clock hanging above the door, she encouraged herself one last time and pushed the door to AP English open. Immediately twenty heads including the teacher's turned and 48 eyes stared at her. After a few awkward seconds, the teacher greeted her. "Hi, you must be Elena," she said. "My name is Ms. Sommers. Grab a copy and take a seat. Try not to disturb anyone; we're in the middle of reading Act III." She gestured toward a bunch of books lying on her table.

Elena grabbed a copy without looking at its title and, after shortly looking around, sat down next to a girl with long blonde hair, blue eyes and a blouse that seemed to miss a few buttons since her breasts were about to fall out.

"I'm Caroline," the girl whispered.

"Elena," Elena said unnecessarily and shook Caroline's outstretched hand.

"Shush, girls," Ms. Sommers said.

_Not again_, Elena thought as she read the title of the drama they were reading: A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare. She sighed and blew a hair out of her face.

* * *

After the bell had rung, Elena grabbed her messenger bag and wanted to leave the classroom.

"Hey Elena," Caroline shouted behind her. "Wait a sec. You're the new girl here, right?"

Elena looked at her and raised her eyebrows. "Obviously?"

"Well, I thought you might need some help finding the classrooms and dorms, but well," Caroline snapped and started to rush out.

"C'mon, it was just a joke," Elena said, rolling her eyes and adding: "Some help would be nice."

The blonde turned, smiling all over her face. "Great! What's your next class?"

"Ummm…" Elena grabbed her schedule and read aloud: "French by Mme. Lefevre."

"Ah, my friend Bonnie's in that class too. She can help you find your way. It's the girl with the long black ponytail. I gotta head to AP physics, see you later at lunch, okay?" She didn't wait for an answer and disappeared in the crowd.

"O-kay," Elena said and turned to look for Bonnie. When she found a girl that looked like Caroline's description, she asked carefully: "Bonnie?"

The girl turned her head and looked at her, confused. "Um, yes?"

"Uh… Sorry, your friend Caroline told me you had French next? She said you could help me…"

„…find the room?" Bonnie finished her sentence. „Sure, come with me."  
After what felt like a dozen corners and corridors, they reached their classroom. "Hurry," Bonnie whispered and rushed into the room. Elena followed her confused and wanted to sit down next to her as a female voice with a strong French accent shouted: "Who are you?"

Elena froze and turned around. "Elena Gilbert, I'm new here."

"Ah, bien sûr, I almost forgot about your arrival today. Well, how about you present the class your French skills and introduce yourself?" She waved her to stand next to her. Right in front of the black board. Awesome.

"Um… Sure," Elena murmured as she went to stand next to Mme. Lefevre.

"Je suis Elena Gilbert… J'ai 16 ans et j'arrive de New York City. Mais j'ai grandi au Messachusetts où je suis née. Mon père travaille beaucoup et à cause de cela, je suis ici maintenant," Elena babbled within one breath and started to go back to her seat as someone raised their hand.

"April?" Mme. Lefevre asked. "Vous avez une question?"

"Oui," April said. "Pourquoi est-ce que tu ne vis pas avec ta mère si ton père n'a pas de temps?"

"My mom died when I was a toddler, " Elena said quietly and looked to the ground. Her heart ached at the memory.

"Oh my god," April gasped. "I'm so sorry—"

"It's okay," Elena said quickly and sat down.

For the rest of the class, no one bothered her with questions. Not even eager-seeming Mme. Lefevre who made everyone but Elena conjugate five French verbs. _Thank god_, Elena thought and spent the rest of the class drawing in her sketchpad and wondering how many more times she will have to repeat her story today.

* * *

After having survived French and Math, where she had met Caroline again, Elena, Bonnie and Caroline made their way to the lunch room.

They sat down at a table with girls who looked like freshmen and began to eat.

"Ugh, I hate Mr. Knight," Caroline stated. "He's such an ass. He knew I hadn't made the homework he gave us, but nevertheless he picked me to present it to the class."

"Maybe he just wanted to have a better look down your cleavage," Bonnie mumbled.

"BONNIE!" her friend gasped and shot Elena a look.

"Oh come on, she won't tell," Bonnie tried to calm her down.

"Won't tell what?" Elena asked confused.

"Caroline had had a thing going on with Mr. Knight. You could say he was _her_ knight in shining armor… or better no shining armor at all," Bonnie said suggestively and earned herself an elbow straight in her rips which only caused her to smile broader.

"We don't even know her," Caroline hissed.

"Oh, no worries, been there, done that," Elena said and shoved a french fry in her mouth. "I won't say anything."

The other girls looked at her in disbelief.

"What? Why did you think I was sent to an all _girls' _school, huh?"

"Um… Very well then," Caroline said, calmed down a little, but obviously curious.

For a while they just sat there and ate. "Hey, Elena," Bonnie suddenly broke the silence. "How about you come to the training after last period?"

"Training for what?"

"Cheerleaders, duh. I'm the captain," Caroline stated arrogantly. "You could audition for the squad."

"Cheerleading for what, exactly? Or more like, for whom? A girl basketball team? No thanks," Elena said.

"What? No," Bonnie said. "For the basketball team of the boys' boarding school half a mile from here."

"There's a boys' school here? And you're allowed to cheer for them?" Elena asked surprised.

"Sure we are," Caroline said. "This school's not that strict. We even get to wear skirts that are way shorter than the ones of the uniform. And belly free tops."

"Oh thank god," Elena said relieved. "I almost thought I wouldn't get to see a guy and wear acceptable clothes until I got out of here."

Bonnie laughed. "So you'll audition? Have you ever been in a cheerleader squad?"

"Yup," Elena replied. "I've been the captain of the team at my old school. Where do we meet? Cause I have to grab my sportswear before."

"At the boys' gym. Who do you share a room with, by the way?" Caroline asked.

"Uh, wait a sec…" Elena looked in her bag for the piece of paper the principal had handed to her. "Apparently with you two," she said happily.

"Awesome!" Bonnie shouted as the bell rang for their last period.

"See you later!"

* * *

A horrible hour about the Civil War later, Elena hurried to grab her sportswear and get to the gym in time. When she had finally found the building with the dorms in it, she took two steps at a time to get to the second floor where she found her suitcase on a bed underneath a window. It stood in a room with another two beds; one right next to the door and one in the back of the room. They were perfectly aligned and against the opposite wall, there were three exact copies of a small dresser and three desks. _Ugh, typically boarding school_, Elena thought_. Same clothes, same furniture._  
She threw open her suitcase and took out one of her comfy sweat pants and a sports bra and stuffed it into her bag. Having shut the suitcase, she ran out of her room, down the stairs and into the freezing winter air. It had started to snow and she could barely see two feet far when she suddenly bumped into someone.

"Oh my god, I'm sorry," she said automatically and bent down to pick up the stuff she had dropped. At the time she stood again, a guy with the most gorgeous blue eyes was staring at her. She opened her mouth to say something, but was too baffled to form words, so she closed it again. The boy standing in front of her grinned.

"No problem, babe," he said and looked around. "Tell me why you're on the boys' school grounds?"

"Oh um…" Elena stuttered and shut up. She was silently slapping herself for reacting like that. She was K… Elena Gilbert. Never insecure. Especially when guys were present. "Okay, firstly, you don't call me "babe", got it? And secondly, I was looking for the gym. I was just lost in the snow."

The boy raised his eyebrows and raised his hand to absently stroke his slight stubbles. _He gotta be a junior or senior_, Elena thought. _Sophomores aren't that mature already._

"So you're not like the other girls. You have temper, I like that," he said and grinned again, letting his eyes wander a little further south. Elena cleared her throat and his eyes flicked back to hers. "Well, follow me, I was heading to the gym, too," he said and walked past her.

"Hey," Elena shouted catching up to him. "What do you mean, you were heading to the gym, too? Caroline said cheerleader training will start in…" She looked at her watch. "…ten minutes ago."  
He stopped in his tracks. "What? That's why you're going there? You're one of the cheerleaders?" he asked a little too surprised.

"Well, not yet," Elena said and blushed. Why the hell was she blushing? "I'm auditioning today."  
The boy looked her all over and then, all of a sudden, took a step forward and stood directly in front of her, their lips only inches apart. "Well then… You should get used to my nickname since you're cheering for my team, _babe_," he whispered, his breath on her lips making her shiver.

She wanted to say something but he turned on his heels and trudged through the snow to an old looking building which had to be the gym.

After a few seconds, Elena followed him and headed to the girls' locker room to get dressed. Once she wore her short panties and the sports bra, she went into the gym, spotting Caroline's blonde hair and Bonnie's black ponytail in front of the bleachers.

The moment she entered the gym, all eyes were on her. Or more like all eyes of the basketball team training opposite the cheerleaders. Elena swaggered through the hall swinging her hips and heard a familiar male voice shout behind her.

"Nice bod', babe." A second after that comment, she heard someone slap him on the back of his head and the coach's strict voice bellowed: "Three more rounds for you, Salvatore!"

_So that's his name_, Elena thought and wondered what his first name was.

"Elena! You're late," Caroline drew her attention. "And what was that about?" she whispered curiously into her ear.

"Nothing, just some moron I ran into before coming here," she shrugged.

"A moron? He's the captain of the whole team! That is Damon Salvatore, duh."

"I don't care if he's Damon Salvatore or Matthew McConaughey. He's a douche bag," Elena said and added as an afterthought, "so can I audition now?"

Caroline looked at her quizzically. "Yeah, sure. Show me what you got, girl," She winked and walked back to the other cheerleaders, all in uniform.

Elena took in a deep breath and started to run. She made some flic-flacs, did a cartwheel, danced a

little to the music playing in the background and did a salto as her finale. She landed on her feet and stood, hands raised up in the air. Behind her she heard the guys whistling and the girls in front of her were obviously amazed.

"Well. I think I have to think about it," Caroline joked and hugged Elena. "You're definitely in. Where did you learn to do that?"

"At the school in NYC that I went to. They had a more or less professional squad that took part in national competitions."

"Wow," a girl with brown hair said. "I wish we could do that too."

"Maybe we can," Elena said. "But it's a lot of training that is so hard that you might not remember that the sport used to be fun. So I wouldn't recommend it."

"Hm," the girl said. "I'm Vickie, by the way."

"Aren't you in my history class?" Elena wondered.

"The one by Mr. Plain? Yeah, I am," Vickie replied.

"All chatting done? We have things to do!" Caroline declared. "Let's show Elena our choreography for the next game."

The girls nodded and took their positions. After about five minutes of awkward jumping and pyramid building, it was finally over.

"So, what do you think?" Caroline asked curiously.

"Uh… well," Elena began. She didn't know how to tell them that the choreography sucked without hurting them.

"C'mon, we want your honest opinion," Bonnie encouraged her. "Spit it out."

"Okay then," Elena said carefully. "You seriously gotta work on your moves. You all seem kind of insecure. You're women, show it. You need a little more this"— Elena moved her hips and did one of the moves she's learnt at a workshop—"and a little more that"— She took a run-up and jumped like the chick in Step Up 3 in the final dance—"But most of all, you need a lot more self-confidence, otherwise you look dumb in this sport."

A few girls looked at the ground, obviously hurt. Others looked furious. "What?" Elena asked. "You said you wanted my opinion."

"Well, not anymore," a redhead snapped.

"Calm down, Stefanie," Caroline said. "Can you give us some tips then? So that we look as sexy as you do?"

Elena chuckled. "Um, it depends on when we gotta have finished the dance."

"Next Saturday is the game at Nickol's High. We have to have finished it by then," Vickie answered.

"What? That's already tomorrow!" Elena exclaimed. "Then we better hurry."

* * *

Having had a tiring session of showing the others how to swing their hips and look sexy and feel the beat, Elena opened her ponytail and gave Caroline her elastic that she had lent during training back.

"Thanks," she said and watched the girls go up to the locker room to take a shower.

For such insecure girls as the ones in her squad, they had learnt really quick and soon had managed to move in just the way a woman had to to have tons of men swooning after her. The performance she had showed the girls was one of the first she had learnt in NYC and she was surprised how fast they had learnt it. _It took me way longer,_ Elena admitted to herself while combing her hair absently with her fingers. When she looked up, she realized that everyone but her had already gone and made her way to the locker room to shower and get to dinner.

She was about to climb the stairs when someone behind her tapped her on her shoulder. She spun around, expecting one of the girls, and was a little surprised when she saw Damon standing behind her.

"What?" she asked, not wanting to put up with his dumb comments.

"I saw you dancing in there," he said, ignoring her question. "How'd you learn to move your body like that?"

Elena rolled her eyes and moved to go back when she suddenly felt herself being pulled to Damon's chest.

She let out a surprised gasp and stared up into his eyes. For a few seconds, she was banned by their beauty, but when he flashed her a suggestive smile, she pushed him away.

"What do you want?" she asked, exhausted.

"Nothing," Damon smirked and suddenly changed the subject. "You coming to Finn's party later?"

"Who's Finn?" Elena asked.

"Who cares? Someone from my school, his parents are really rich and he's booked the pub in town to celebrate his 18th birthday. Will you be there?"

"I guess you'll have to wait and see," Elena replied and tried to copy his smirk before turning around and climbing the stairs with a slightly exaggerated sway of her hips to make sure he noticed her fine ass.

"See you there, babe!" Damon shouted behind her and chuckled as he walked out of the gym.

Elena shook her head, smiling to herself. _See you there, moron_, Elena thought and opened the door to the showers.

a/n: please review, but don't be too harsh on me since this is my first story ever. I hope you liked its first chapter.  
hana x


	2. Chapter 2 - Salvatore as in Savior

_a/n: wow, when i'm amazed by all the feedback you've given me! thank you very much :)_  
_so, to answer your questions: Damon is 18 years old, he's a senior. and well, it seems like none of you have understood what happened before elena changed the school... another hint's in this story:) read on!  
ps: the relations in this fic aren't the same as in the show. plus: the elena featured in here is pre-parents-death-party-elena in case you haven't noticed already ;)_

**CHAPTER TWO – SALVATORE AS IN SAVIOR**

Elena was running. She heard gun shots behind her and pressed herself against a wall, breathing heavily. _No matter what happens, keep running, honey_, her dad had shouted after her when she had managed to sneak out. He'd taken the fall for her. All of this was her fault and he was paying the prize. Another shot sounded through the night and Elena heard someone scream. _No_, she thought terrified and—

The loud bang of a door slamming shut snapped her back to reality. She opened her eyes and realized she was standing under the hot stream of the shower and not on the streets of Detroit as she had thought. After a few seconds, she remembered where she was: In the shower rooms of the gym. Outside in the locker rooms, she heard Caroline and Bonnie giggling and a few other girls chatting and laughing.

Still trembling, she climbed out of the shower, putting a towel around her body. She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down, opened the door to the locker rooms and found the other girls getting ready for dinner or waiting for their friends to finish combing their hair. Bonnie sat on the bench next to the door and laughed at Caroline, who had managed to get caught up in her top.

"How did that happen?" Elena asked, trying not to laugh at Caroline's attempts to get loose.

"I… Argh," Caroline groaned and ripped the shirt over her head, almost tearing it into pieces. "Finally" she exclaimed and added sarcastically, "thanks for your help, Bon!"

"I'm sorry," apologized Bonnie, almost falling off the bench with laughing. "You just looked too damn funny!"

Elena giggled at Caroline's pouting face and got dressed. As soon as they were all ready, they went to the school building to eat dinner.

* * *

When they were seated at the same table they had sat at during lunch, Elena asked casually while shoving some unidentifiable vegetable into her mouth, "So… Are you going to Finn's party later?"

"How do you know about that?" Bonnie said surprised. "You've just arrived today."

"Um, Damon asked if I came earlier," Elena said, realizing she was chewing on cauliflower and spitting it back on her plate.

"Hell of a lot talking to Damon today, huh?" Caroline said wiggling her eyebrows.

"Ugh, no," Elena said in mock disgust, "As I said, he's a douche bag. He's headed me off after training and asked me."

"So what did you say?" Bonnie asked while poking her cauliflower and grimacing.

"I said that he'd have to wait and see. I wanted to ask if you were going before saying yes," Elena replied.

"I don't know," Caroline said uncertainly.

"Sure we are!" Bonnie shouted and punched Caroline in the rips. "Why not?"

"But it's only three and a half hours until curfew left and I don't want to spend the rest of the semester in detention if we're late," Caroline pouted.

"Curfew is already at eleven pm?" Elena asked puzzled.

"Only for sophomores. Juniors and seniors can stay out until one a. m. on the weekend and freshmen only until ten p. m.," Bonnie replied.

Elena groaned. "Are you serious? And there's no way around it?"

"Well, we could sneak out and sneak back in later," Caroline joked.

"Why don't we?" Bonnie asked excited. "We could do it like the girls in the movies."

"If you had actually watched those movies, you'd know this whole sneaking-thing never works," Caroline stated.

"At least it would be more exciting than sitting around in our rooms and chatting about school," Bonnie mumbled and finished her meal. Caroline shot her an angry glance.

"Maybe we should try it," Elena tried to calm them down before they started a fight.

Caroline stared at her. Then, suddenly, she seemed to remember something: "Wait… I think we don't even a have to sneak out. Remember when I told you that Mr. Knight made me present the homework?"

The girls nodded, not understanding yet. "Well, after class, I asked him what grade he gave me. And um… it kinda ended in…"

"…a hot and steamy make-out session?" Bonnie giggled.

"No! It ended in a little conversation…" Caroline rolled her eyes at the look on Bonnie's face. "Okay, it ended in a flirt… And well, I asked if he had plans for tonight and he said he was the surveillance for tonight's party-goers…" She stopped and looked at her friends expectantly.

"And?" Elena asked confused. "How's that gonna help us… Ah!" she exclaimed when she got it.

Bonnie's face lit up too. "You mean you can convince him to let us back in after curfew without getting us in trouble?"

Caroline only grinned mischievously.

* * *

An hour later, the three girls had finished dressing up and were checking their outfits.

Caroline wore a navy blue dress with a blue-white striped plaid skirt that barely reached her knees. Her tiny waist was emphasized by a small, dark-blue belt and the dress was held upright by a ribbon in Caroline's neck. Her hair was pinned up with a few strands of her curly blonde hair falling around her face.

Bonnie was the only one who had refused to wear a dress or a skirt as Elena had suggested. She'd decided to put on some black jeans and a strapless, yellow top. Her hair was falling around her shoulders, only a small pin keeping it from falling into her eyes.

"Your dress is killer," Bonnie said as she looked Elena over. "I wish I could wear something like that and still look good in it."

"Are you being serious? You're at least as skinny as I am," Elena said and adjusted her dress. It clung to her like a second skin and the red color emphasized her curves. She covered her bare shoulders with her black coat and put on her heels.

"Wow. Your legs look like they're endless," Caroline admired.

"It's just because the dress is so short and I wear shoes that make me five inches taller than I usually am," Elena explained and waved the girls out of the room. "Come on, we gotta go now."

After a last look in the mirror, the three girls sneaked out of the room and down to the hall.

"Your turn, Care," Bonnie said and gave her friend a little push towards the figure walking up and down in front of the door.

"Okay, okay," Caroline said and hurried to Mr. Knight whose eyes went wide when he took in her appearance.

"What are they saying?" Bonnie asked curiously.

"They're too far away, give up," Elena chuckled as Bonnie almost fell over trying to overhear their conversation.

What felt like ten minutes later, Caroline waved them out of their hiding place behind the stairs and they left the school together. Once outside, Bonnie couldn't help herself but ask: "So, what did you say to get him to sneak us in and out?"

"You'll never know," Caroline said and winked.

Elena told them to be quiet as they made their way to the pub in town. It was freezing cold and she thought that maybe it would have been better if she'd put on a pair of jeans as Bonnie had. At least it had stopped snowing.

As they reached the pub, they could already hear loud music and people's laughter.

"Let's get the party started," Elena winked and stalked towards the tavern, Bonnie and Caroline following close behind her.

She pushed the door open and looked around. A lot of guys were staggering around, obviously drunk. A few noticed their entrance and whistled in appreciation, causing Elena to first bite her lip and then smile.

"Can I spend you a drink?" A blonde guy with baby blue eyes asked.

"Sure," Elena replied and sat down at a booth in the corner of the pub.

The guy smirked and walked over to the bar.

"That was fast," Bonnie said impressed and sat down opposite Elena, Caroline following right after her.

"You see, the right outfit pays," Elena grinned and scanned the place for Damon. She recognized a few guys from the basketball team but couldn't spot their captain anywhere. _He's probably coming later_, she thought and shrugged.

When the blue-eyed guy came back, he held a tray with shots on it and was surrounded by three other boys their age.

"I've brought some back-up," he joked and pointed at his friends, "those are Tyler, Klaus and Chris. And I'm Matt."

"Elena," Elena said and slid farther in the booth to make room for the guys. Matt sat down right next to Elena and casually put an arm around her. After Bonnie and Caroline had introduced themselves, Matt asked Caroline: "Aren't you the captain of the girls' school cheerleader team?"

"I am," she confirmed. "Elena and Bonnie are also part of our squad."

"You are in the girls' school, too?" Matt wondered looking at Elena. "Why haven't I noticed you until now?"

"Because you're not in the basketball team," Tyler said. "Should have seen her performance earlier."

"Thanks?" Elena said, blushing slightly. "I've just transferred from a school in NYC today."

"Oh wow," Matt said. "Tell us the reason? I mean, there must be a pretty good one if you're transferring in the middle of the semester."

"Um… Let's just say I wasn't the example child my dad wanted," Elena shrugged. "Partied a little too much. Skipped school a few times too often. But I don't wanna talk about that now. Let's enjoy this night."

"But I want to know more about you," Matt pouted in mock-disappointment.

"How about a drinking game then?" Elena suggested. "We'll need a few more shots for it, though."

"No problem," Chris said and got up to get more.

"What are the rules?" Matt asked.

"Well, basically, one begins and asks someone a question, and if they don't want to answer it, they take a shot. Of course, the questions must be answered truthfully," Elena said. "It's pretty simple."

"Then let's do it," Matt said enthusiastically.

Elena looked over to first Bonnie, then Caroline, who was shifting nervously in her seat. She grabbed the girl's hand under the table and squeezed it. Caroline smiled at her. "Don't worry, it's fun," Elena mouthed at her new-won friend as Chris came back with another twelve shots.

"Who wants to start?" Tyler asked.

Very much to Elena's surprise, Caroline raised her hand. "I want," she said and looked at Matt's arm around Elena's shoulders. "Are you always this forward?"

Matt grinned. "Jealous?"

Caroline flushed and looked down. "That's not an answer."

"Okay. I guess I am. Now it's my turn, right?" Matt asked looking at Elena who nodded. "Jealous, Caroline?"

Caroline flushed in a deeper tone of red and took a shot. The guys laughed and Matt grinned a little.

"My turn now," Bonnie declared, smiling mischievously. "What—or better who—were you thinking of when you were moaning in the locker rooms at the gym, all alone, Tyler?"

Tyler looked at her with wide eyes. Then he blinked and narrowed his eyes. He took a shot and earned a few raised eyebrows.

"Who did you think of that you can't tell us?" Matt blurted out.

"Not your turn," reminded him Elena.

"So… Elena," Tyler said, looking at her. "Is there a special reason behind your change of school?"

"There is," Elena said and looked at Chris. "You still a virgin?"

Chris's eyes went wide in surprise and he quickly took a shot.

"I don't like this game," Chris mumbled. "If you don't want to answer and it's a yes/no question, everyone knows the answer anyways."

"That's the point," Elena said and laughed.

"Why don't we play another game?" he suggested.

"Suggest one," Matt said, raising his eyebrows.

"Well let's make this game a truth or dare game," Chris said. "If you don't wanna tell or do what is asked you take a shot."

"That is basically the same game," Caroline said. "You just added the "dare" part."

"Who cares?" Bonnie said. "Let's try it out."

"My turn," Chris said. "Bonnie, truth or dare?"

"Dare."

"Kiss someone in this room," Chris said and grinned, seeming like he expected her to kiss him.

Bonnie smiled slowly, a wicked expression on her face. "Caroline?"

Caroline looked at her, first confused, then grinning. "Of course, hun."

Bonnie bent over to Caroline and kissed her. Chris's eyes widened in surprise. As Bonnie cupped Caroline's face, the other girl opened her mouth. A few seconds later, Bonnie broke the kiss, leaned back and ran her tongue over her lips. "So Klaus. Truth or dare?"

"Truth," Klaus said and smiled shyly.

"Where are you from?" Bonnie asked. "Your accent's hot."

Klaus grinned cockily. "I'm from London."

He turned his head to Caroline. "Truth or dare?"

"Dare."

"Kiss me," he said and smirked.

Caroline cocked her head and narrowed her eyes. She took one of the shots and swallowed hard.

Matt broke into laughter. "That's what I call rejection, Klaus."

Caroline raised her finger and stood. She went over to Klaus and grabbed him by his shirt. Before he knew what was happening, Caroline's lips were pressed against his and he cupped her face. Matt raised his eyebrows in surprise. Klaus opened her mouth and sucked on her lower lip as Caroline pulled away and sat down next to Bonnie.

"Matt," Caroline said as if nothing had happened. "Truth or dare?"

"Dare," Matt said.

Caroline grinned wickedly. "Kiss Tyler."

Tyler's mouth dropped open. Matt shook his head and laughed. He took a shot.

"Elena?" he asked.

"Dare," she said and smiled expectingly.

"Dance on one of the tables," Matt said and grinned, expecting her to refuse and take a shot.

Elena narrowed her eyes. She came here to have fun. So she'll have fun. She licked her lips, stood up and climbed on the table. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, beginning to move to the music. Soon she'd lost herself in the music, swaying her hips and moving her whole body to the beat of the song playing in the background.

Shortly before the song ended, Elena opened her eyes, being, as to be expected, watched by half of the male guests of the bar. She looked around and spotted Damon at the bar. He was holding a drink in his hand and talking to a redhead that was at least one year older than him. He laughed and put a hand on her leg, letting it wander up her thigh. Elena narrowed her eyes, but kept on dancing. A whistle at the foot of her table let her look down. A boy with black locks curling around his temples looked at her.

"Wanna move that body like that in my sheets?" he asked loudly and Bonnie and Caroline gasped. Elena stopped dancing and stared at him. Then she jumped down and stood in front of him.

She regarded him and cocked her head to the side. "You remind me of someone I know," she said and leaned so close that they were almost touching. Scanning his face from his lips to his eyes, taking in his cocky smirk and finally locking eyes with him, she said loudly: "He turned out to be gay."

The crowd broke into a laugh and the guy blushed in a deep red. Elena turned around and sat down next to Caroline who giggled. "Well handled," she whispered and smiled.

"Let's go," Bonnie shouted over the loud noise of people laughing. "It's almost 2 in the morning."

"Okay," Elena agreed and they said goodbye to Matt and the others.

As they were about to leave, Matt pulled Caroline back to talk to her in private. Bonnie and Elena shrugged and made their way to the exit.

"Wait. I'll go to the bathroom before we're leaving, okay, Bonnie?" Elena asked.

"'Kay. I'll wait here."

Elena turned around and again and walked over to the girls' bathroom, but before she reached it, she heard someone call her name.

"Elena? Nice show you've been performing there," curly-hair-guy said. "I'm Shane, by the way."

_How did he know her name?_ "Want me to help you come out?" Elena asked annoyed.

"No," he said. "I want you to do something entirely different."

In a rush he was pressing her into the alcove hiding the two of them from the view of the other guests in the pub. He took advantage of her bafflement and bent down to kiss her. At the feeling of his lips pressed against hers, she pushed him away. "What the hell."

"You're not holding me up for ridicule again," he hissed and slung his arm around her waist. "I know you want it, too."

She tried to push him away, but he caught her hands with his left and pinned them over her head. She couldn't move. He kissed her again and opened her mouth with his lips, sliding his tongue into it. She tried to bite him, kick him—do anything, but she felt as if she was paralyzed. Tears filled her eyes as she felt his hand pushing up her dress to cup her ass. For a brief moment, he pulled away from her and smirked. "Like that?" he asked and slid his right hand between her legs. She gasped in shock, but before she could scream for help, he covered her mouth with his lips again. She closed her eyes and a tear spilled onto her cheek. His hand wandered away from her most intimate part to her knee, his fingertips stroking her skin softly. When he spread her legs, a silent sob escaped her throat. He'd rape her. Right here. In a room filled with a bazillion people. And she couldn't do anything to make him stop. He pressed his hips against hers, his hand sliding up her body and cupping one of her boobs through the fabric of her dress. He grabbed one of her hands and pushed it into his pants, guiding it up and down. Elena was crying silently and wishing herself to be anywhere but here. Suddenly, she felt Shane being pulled away from her. She opened her eyes and blinked away her tears to see who had rescued her.

"You fucking prick," she heard Damon say before she could see him pressing Shane against the wall.

"Get lost," Shane hissed. "We were in the middle of something."

At that, Damon punched him hard in the face, "You were about to rape her," he hissed, his voice dripping with rage.

He grabbed his collar and pressed him harder into the wall. "Touch her again and I will end you," he threatened and punched him again. This time, Shane slid down the wall and squatted against it, unconscious. Damon pulled back and kicked him. Once. Twice.

"Damon!" Elena said, having intended to scream, but it was barely a whisper.

Nevertheless, Damon seemed to have heard her and turned around. "Are you okay? Did he…?" Damon asked worriedly.

"I… He…" Elena said and sobbed. Tears were filling her eyes again and her knees gave out; she would have fallen, hadn't Damon caught her by her waist and pulled her up. She leaned into him, burying her face in his shoulder. He wrapped her arms around her, calling for Bonnie and Caroline. A second later, Bonnie was there, looking at the scene in shock. Elena's dress was still pulled up, showing her ass and thong, Shane was lying on the floor and Damon was holding a totally wrecked Elena in his arms.

"What happened? Did he—"

"I think I was there just in time. A few seconds later and…" Damon broke off, briefly closing his eyes. Elena was silently sobbing in his arms, not able to move on her own. He put her arms around his shoulders and lifted her up into his arms. "Let's get her home," he said quietly and Bonnie nodded.

Caroline was meeting them half way out of the pub, looking at them without understanding. "What the hell—"

Bonnie hushed her and grabbed her hand, pulling her through the crowd.

As the four of them reached the door, Bonnie and Caroline got their coats and wrapped Elena in hers as if it was a blanket.

Outside it was snowing like hell and Caroline cursed.

"We can take my car," Damon said and led them to the parking lot. Together, they laid her down on the back seats, Bonnie holding her head in her lap. Caroline and Damon sat in the front.

* * *

After Caroline had distracted Mr. Knight, Bonnie and Damon carried Elena up to their rooms. She had fallen asleep in his car and Damon tugged her under the covers of her bed, pushing a strand of hair out of her face. Bonnie looked at them with worried eyes as Caroline came into the room and closed the door quietly.

Elena opened her eyes slowly and looked into Damon's. "Thank you," she whispered so quietly he could barely hear her.

"It's going to be okay," he whispered back and stood. She closed her eyes again and drifted off to sleep.

"Thank you," Bonnie said quietly.

Damon smiled sadly and made his way out. Before he closed the door behind him, he turned and said, "I'm going to look after her today evening, okay?"

Caroline nodded and closed the door.

She and Bonnie sat down on her bed and hugged each other.

Elena was still crying in her sleep.

_a/n: i don't know when i will upload the next chapter. it highly depends on how much time i have to write it. but i can assure you that there will be another chapter. i'll do my best and try to finish it as soon as possible :)_  
_xoxo hana  
_


	3. Chapter 3 - Coffee, Cake & Bonding

**CHAPTER THREE – COFFEE, CAKE & BONDING**

The sunlight of the early morning hours spilled into the room when Elena woke up. She blinked and turned her head to the alarm clock on her bedside table. 8:30 am. On a Saturday. Ugh.

Slowly sitting up in her bed, she realized she was alone. Caroline's and Bonnie's bed were both made and they were nowhere in sight.

Elena stood up and walked over to the window, looking outside. The sun was shining brightly and it had stopped snowing. It had about one foot snow and the janitor was already trying to clear the paths to school. A few students were in the middle of a snowball fight and laughing like maniacs. Elena could hear them through the opened window even though they were at least half a mile away. Two freshmen and three little kids which Elena assumed to be their siblings were building a snowman and lying down in the snow to make snow angels.

Everything seemed so normal. But Elena knew it wasn't. Shaking her head to ban the pictures of last night from seeking into her thoughts, she turned around and noticed a small sheet of paper pinned to the wall on the door leading to the corridors.

She stalked through the room and read the notice:

_Hey Elena,_

_Bonnie and I went to buy us some coffee. We'll be back soon,_

_xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo Caroline_

Elena smiled. _More xo's didn't fit on the sheet, huh_, she wondered amused. Looking down, she realized she had still her dress from last night on.

She knew it was impossible—but she could see Shane's hand prints all over it. From the rim of the dress up to her boobs—they were everywhere. She stumbled backwards. _This isn't real, _she thought terrified and closed her eyes. _You're just traumatized and imagining it. _She opened her eyes and looked down. No hand prints. Elena let out a relieved breath and turned around to visit the bathroom and take a shower. She needed to get his smell off of her.

She opened the door and faced a gigantic mirror hanging above the sink.

"Oh my god," she whispered. Her dress was ripped on the left side of her leg and her make-up was smeared all over her face. It had left traces of her tears on her cheeks and her lashes were sticky. Her hair looked rumpled and as if she hadn't combed it in days. Taking in her reflection, she was catapulted back to the alcove. _'Like that?_ she heard Shane say in her head and felt his hand cupping her again. Her back bumped into the door and slammed it shut. She opened her eyes at the contact and realized she was still in the bathroom of her dorm. Her breathing was heavy and she turned away from her reflection that was watching her with horrified eyes. She undressed quickly and climbed in the shower.

The hot stream of water flowing down her back calmed Elena's nerves. She tried to breathe at a normal pace and to remember some happy memories to distract herself.

_"Hey, honey, wait," her dad screamed behind her. "Not so fast! I don't want you to fall and break something."_

_"I won't, Daddy," she said and laughed. They were out on the streets and he was trying to teach her how to ride the bike she had gotten for her 5__th__ birthday. "I can do this!"_

_She took a run-up and jumped on her bike. "See! See, Daddy! I can do it! I can ride a bike!" she yelled and smiled all over her face. Her dad was running behind her, ready to catch her if she fell._

_"You're a natural! Now pedal backwards so your bike will be stopped."_

_She did as he asked her to and stood. Then she climbed off the bike and grinned. "Are you proud of me? I did it right the first time I tried it!"_

_Her dad smiled and lifted her up in the air. "Of course I'm proud of you, honey! I will always be proud of you, even if you don't do everything right the first time you tried."_

_She smiled and hugged him with her tiny arms. He flung his arms around her as she whispered: "I love you, Daddy."_

_"I love you, too, hun," he said and put her down. "How about a little race? Whoever is first at home gets the loser's piece of birthday cake?"_

_"I'm game," Elena said eagerly and climbed her bike. "I will win anyways because my bike is way faster than you walking behind me!"_

_With that, she started to pedal and laughed as the wind brushed her face._

Elena opened her eyes and was still smiling from the memory. Her heart beat at a normal pace and her breathing had slowed down too. She washed herself and turned off the water.

When she had finished drying her hair with the hair dryer and had put on clothes, she could smell the scent of pancakes and coffee. She slowly opened the door to the bedroom and saw Bonnie and Caroline sitting on the edge of her bed.

"Morning," she mumbled and sat down next to Caroline, blinking in the bright sunlight flooding their room. "Are those for me?"

"Mhm," Caroline said and shoved the plate over to her friend.

"Where did you get them?" Elena asked and took a bite.

"We bought it at a café in town. Didn't you read the note?" Bonnie asked, not waiting for Elena to answer. "How are you feeling?" she asked carefully.

Elena stopped chewing and swallowed hard. She knew this conversation had to be made. And she knew that eventually, she had to tell them everything. But she hoped this didn't have to be now. "I'm okay," she said in a low voice, avoiding her friends' eyes. "How many people know what happened?"

Bonnie and Caroline exchanged a look. "Only the three of us and Damon," Bonnie replied truthfully. "But we only know what Damon told us." After another look to Caroline, she went on: "Did Shane… Did he—"

"No," Elena said and blushed. She didn't know why, but she felt embarrassed about what had happened to her. And that made her feel even more embarrassed since it was not her fault at all. "Damon… He was there just before…"

Elena stopped. She didn't want to cry—but she couldn't help it. "Why did he do that?" she asked nobody in particular; her bottom lip trembling as she went on. "What I said to him wasn't so bad that he would have a reason to take revenge on me." She cried frantically now.

"Nothing is bad enough to rape someone," Caroline snapped. "And what you said was just a reaction to his asshole comment about wanting to sleep with you."

"But I…" Elena pressed out in between small sobs. She needed to get this out. She had thought of this about a hundred times ever since Damon had rescued her. "If I hadn't made fun of him, he wouldn't have…"

"You don't know that, Elena," Bonnie said softly, taking her hand. "Shane is known to be an asshole, especially when he's drunk. He becomes aggressive and violent if he doesn't get what he wants. This is not your fault."

Elena looked down as a tear spilled onto her pancakes. "Maybe it's my punishment," she whispered too quiet for Bonnie and Caroline to hear.

Bonnie reached out and stroked her upper arm. "I know it doesn't seem like it right now, but you'll be okay."

"I know," Elena whispered, suddenly just wanting somebody to hug her and tell her they'll protect her—like her mom always had. At the thought of her mom, her heart began to ache even more than it already did. "Can we please… Can we please just talk about something else? I need to get my mind off of things."

Caroline and Bonnie exchanged a look and nodded. "Damon's coming over later," Bonnie finally said in an attempt to change the subject. "At least he said he would."

"We'll see," Elena said and wiped away her tears, trying to smile. "There are no obligatory activities for today, are there?"

Caroline shifted uncomfortably. "Um… We have to cheer at the basketball game against Nickol's High tonight," she said and bit her lip. "But you don't have to join us… Considering."

"I think I'll pass, thanks," Elena said and leaned back against the headboard. "So… Tell me something. Anything. I _really_ need to get my mind off things."

"Uh," Bonnie thought for a moment. "Have you finished French homework already? Because I have no idea what she wants us to do. I understood zero in the last class."

"You're seriously asking me about school?" Elena laughed slightly. "Well, she wanted us to write an essay about the advantages of spending a gap year in France. It's supposed to be based on the text we've read in school."

"How come you're so good at French? I've been learning it for three years now and still don't understand a word," Bonnie wondered.

"'Guess I'm just talented," Elena smirked. "How about you, Caroline? AP Physics?"

Caroline shrugged. "It runs in the family, I guess. My dad has a Ph. D. in physics, so has his dad and his granddad and so on. But I'd prefer to be good at Art or a language. It's way girlier. Nobody likes girls that are good at physics."

"Hot young teachers seem to like them," Bonnie joked and was elbowed by Caroline.

"He doesn't," Caroline said and looked at her friends. "At least I don't like him that way… Anymore."

"How did that happen?" Bonnie asked surprised, and then added for Elena, "Caroline has been in love with Mr. Knight since the beginning of freshman year."

"But I'm not _anymore_," Caroline repeated. "Something's changed."

"And what would that be?" Elena asked curiously while eating her pancakes and drinking her coffee.

"Someone asked me out yesterday," Caroline said happily, but bit her tongue a second later. "And I feel really bad about being happy about it considering what you've been through that night…"

Pictures of last night flashed through Elena's brain. Shane crushing her into the alcove, his lips pressing against hers, his hand on her boob… "Please," Elena said tortured. "Don't remind me of it every five seconds. I'd very much prefer to talk about Matt with you."

Caroline looked at her in bafflement. "How do you know it's Matt that I'm talking about?"

"Oh, come on, I've seen your glances towards him, you being jealous about his arm around my shoulders and his irritated look when you kissed Klaus."

Caroline blushed. "I… Was I being _that_ obvious?"

"Yes, you were," said Bonnie and laughed. "But he asked you out? When's the date? Did he give you his number?"

"It's after the game tonight. He's coming to support his team and wants to invite me to dinner afterwards," Caroline said happily.

"That's cute," Bonnie said.

"I know, right?" Caroline said excited. "But the thing is… I don't have anything to wear."

"What?" Bonnie asked and laughed. "Are you serious? Your dresser's already about to explode. There's got to be something wearable for your date."

"Yeah, sure, but not something that will blow him off his feet," Caroline mumbled. "I wanted to buy something more gorgeous… But still not too gorgeous, I don't want him to think I've dressed up for him. You know what I mean?"

"Unfortunately I do," Bonnie said and sighed. "So you want to go to the mall this afternoon?"

Caroline nodded and stood up. She walked over to her dresser and threw a bunch of dresses and jeans and tops on her bed. "Or maybe… You two could help me choose something suitable?"

Elena raised her eyebrows. "Why us? You can choose something yourself, can't you? I mean, you're behaving like it's your first date ever."

Caroline looked to the ground. "Excuse me?" Elena said baffled. "How come?"

"I… Well, like Bonnie told you. I had a crush on Mr. Knight and I… Oh man, this sounds so stupid. But, uh, _well_, I thought going on a date with someone else is like cheating on him or something. And Matt… You know those guys. They usually aren't in for something serious, just for kidding around with a bunch of girls, making jokes and playing spin the bottle or something. I didn't think he'd give me a chance."

"But before Mr. Knight? Why didn't you date guys then?" Elena asked curiously.

"I was only 14 when I transferred to high school. I had some crushes in middle school but we were never on a real date, you know?"

Bonnie watched them, still sitting on Elena's bed. "But Care, you've always had the best taste in clothes ever since I met you. Why are you so insecure, all of a sudden?"

"I… I don't know," Caroline grumbled. "Don't ask me questions I don't know the answer to."

Elena sighed and stood up from her bed. She'd finished breakfast and put the plate and the cup on her bedside table. Then she took Bonnie's hands and helped her get up, too. They walked over to Caroline and mustered the pile of clothes lying on her bed.

"How about this one?" Elena asked and held up a pair of tight fitting blue jeans. "This looks hot, but not like something special."

Caroline nodded and undressed. At Elena's irritated look, she explained: "I want to try the outfit on and see if I like it."

"It's one of _your_ jeans, shouldn't you know what they look like?" Elena wondered and Bonnie started to laugh.

"Caroline has about 20 pairs of jeans, I don't think she remembers what they all look like when she's wearing them."

Caroline had finished undressing and stood there in her bra and panties. "Cherry underwear? Really, Caroline?" Elena asked and giggled.

Her friend blushed. "My mom bought me those. And they are incredibly comfy. So shut up."

"But for your date, you'll need something else," Elena stated.

Caroline looked at her with wide eyes. "Elena! I don't want to sleep with him after the first date already! I'm not a whore."

"Woah, calm down. That's not what I meant," Elena said, a little offended by Caroline's words. "You need some pretty hot lingerie to feel hot and attractive. Your self-confidence will increase to a 120 %. Believe me. You'll feel way better."

Bonnie, who's been quiet for the last few minutes, suddenly reached out and grabbed a top from the pile. "Caroline! I've been looking for this top for ages! You said you didn't have it."

"Oops," Caroline said and smiled sheepishly.

Bonnie shook her head and walked over to her own dresser to throw the tank top in it. When she came back, Caroline was looking at her ass in the mirror. "My ass looks hot in these jeans," she said appreciatively.

Elena and Bonnie laughed. "Now come back here, s_hawty_," Bonnie said and giggled. "Elena's picked out some shirts for you."

Caroline came back and looked at them. "Hm. I like the blue one. But I think I look fat in it."

Elena's eyebrows almost disappeared in her hairline. Then she grabbed the blue top and pushed it and Caroline to the bathroom. "Try it on, it'll look gorgeous on you."

"And it'll emphasize the blue of your eyes," Bonnie added and started throwing Caroline's clothes back in her dresser. "See," she said to Elena as she tried to close the drawer. "It's too much. I almost can't close the damn drawer."

Elena laughed and, with joint forces, they managed to close it. Caroline came back with a hair brush. "Should I put my hair back as I did yesterday or leave it open for tonight?"

"Leave it open," Elena and Bonnie replied at the same time.

"Jinx," Bonnie said and laughed. "Guys love long, blonde hair. And since you have both, you shouldn't ruin your 'advantage' and wear it in a ponytail."

"But it always falls into my eyes," Caroline whined. She seemed like a little kid not getting the horse she's always wanted.

"Oh, stop pouting," Elena said. "Then put a few strands back with a bobby pin or something like Bonnie did yesterday."

Caroline let herself fall down on her bed. "But what if he doesn't think I'm looking good enough? What if he thinks I'm dumb or we don't have anything to talk about?"

"Oh quit pitying yourself, Care," Bonnie reprimanded her. "Your date's gonna be awesome and you know it. The tension between you and Matt has always been there and he finally had the guts to ask you out. I bet you can change your relationship status from "single" to "in a relationship" in facebook tomorrow."

Caroline giggled. "That would be cool," she said and sat up. "But I still need 'pretty hot lingerie', right, Elena?"

Elena smiled. "Yup," she said and sat down next to her blonde friend. "I'm sure Bonnie would love to go with you to the mall to buy some."

Bonnie shot her a glance. Then the look in her eyes softened. "You don't want to join us?"

"No, I—I don't want to go out today, if you don't mind," Elena mumbled.

"Yeah, sure, it's okay," Bonnie assured her. "But what will you be doing while we're out?"

"Oh, I don't know," Elena said, trying to sound nonchalant. "Probably unpacking my stuff. Or curse because Damon doesn't show up," she winked. "When did he say he'd come?"

"Uh, he didn't," Caroline admitted. "He just said he'll come over this afternoon."

"Oh, okay," Elena said. "Well, I'll be here anyways so…"

Bonnie smiled. "Have fun," she said and grabbed her coat and hat. "Come on, Caroline, let's hurry. The Chinese restaurant in the mall has only opened until 2 pm and I'm hungry as hell."

"You know, we could also go to the Greek restaurant for a change," Caroline suggested and got elbowed by Bonnie. "Okay, okay, I'll hurry."

"Is this elbowing thingy some kind of insider?" Elena asked regarding her friends as they were getting ready to go.

"What?" Bonnie asked surprised. "No. It's just something we used to do when we were kids. I guess we just never broke the habit."

"Okay… Finished. See you later," Caroline said, already halfway out of the door. "Who's late now, Bonnie?"

"I'm coming," the girl shouted behind her friend and ran out, too. "See ya later!" she yelled and slammed the door shut.

"Bye," Elena mumbled and went over to her bed. She pulled out her suitcase from under her bed and began unpacking.

* * *

Fifteen minutes later, she had put all of her clothes into the dresser and made her bed. She sighed and looked at her alarm clock. It was already 1:30.

Elena looked around. She didn't know what to do with herself until Damon came around. She hadn't brought a book or an iPod in the rush she had when she had left her home. She shrugged and leaned down to kick the suitcase under her bed. That was when she noticed the tiny frame in one of its pockets. Elena bent down and pulled the image out. It showed her and her parents at the lake house they used to go to. They were all smiling. _That was three years ago_, she thought and felt her eyes getting wet._ Before I met Logan and the others._

A knock on her door tore her out of her train of thought. "Elena?"

She quickly put the frame back into her suitcase and kicked it under her bed. Then she wiped her tears away and opened the door.

"Hey," Damon said quietly, carrying a small blue box with two cups of coffee on it. "May I come it?"

"Yeah, sure," Elena mumbled and let him in. She closed the door and walked past him to sit down on her bed. An awkward silence followed as he put the box and the coffee down on Bonnie's bedside table and shook his head to get the snow out of his hair. Elena hadn't even noticed that it had begun snowing again and looked outside. The sun was still shining, but in the background, she could see some dark clouds covering the sky. A few flocks were already falling down. When Elena looked back at Damon, he had already hung his coat on the wardrobe and was sitting down on Caroline's bed, right across from Elena's. He held the box and the coffee in his hands and handed it to her.

"I brought some cake," he said as she took the coffee cup from him and opened the box. Two pieces of chocolate cake with a lot of cream were in it.

"Aw, thank you," Elena said, smiling genuinely. "I love chocolate cake."

"Oh thank god," Damon let out a breath. "I was afraid you were one of those girls that don't eat cake because they think they would gain weight if they did."

Elena raised her eyebrows. "A piece of cake won't make me fat," she said. "Plus, I'm lucky. I have skinny genes; I can eat whatever I want."

Damon smirked, but it faded quickly. "So… How are you?" he asked with worried eyes.

"I think I'm okay," she mumbled. "I mean, I'm not—yet—but I will be eventually."

"Is there anything I can do to help you?" Damon asked and watched her carefully. Elena couldn't look him in the eye, so she looked at his hands. They were holding the coffee cup in his lap and she noticed that he still wore his gloves—which were cut at his knuckles, showing his long, elegant fingers.

"I don't think so," she whispered and looked down at her own hands. After a brief pause, she added: "You didn't tell anyone, did you?"

Out of the corner of her eye, she could see him licking his lips and taking a breath. He looked outside. "No," he said finally. "But I should have."

Elena looked up. His eyes were focusing on hers now and he looked both calm and furious. "I should have told the police so this damn prick can pay for what he's done."

At that, he jumped up, wandering up and down the room. "I should have done it when he still lay on the floor in the pub. I can't stand seeing his face every day in class, grinning and making jokes as if nothing had happened."

"Damon, please," Elena said, tears running down her cheeks. She tried to wipe them away with the back of her hand, but they kept flowing down her cheeks anyways. Damon stopped stalking through the room and sat down on the edge of her bed.

"Elena," he said. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to—"

"It's okay," Elena mumbled, still avoiding his eyes.

"No, it's not," he said quietly. He carefully put an arm around her shoulders, trying to estimate if she was comfortable with his move or not.

Immediately, Elena leaned into him and buried her face in his shoulder. Damon put his other arm around her, too, and petted her hair.

A few minutes later, Elena was in control again and sat up, wiping away her tears. "Just don't—Don't tell anyone, okay?"

Damon bit his lip and watched her. These doe eyes were killing him. "Okay," he said and looked at his hands. "But won't you feel better if you know he's in jail where he can't hurt you? Now every time you go into town you have to fear you'll meet him. Doesn't this bother you?"

"Of course it does! But I can't… I don't want the police to know. If they know, everyone else will know and they will all treat me like I'm some kind of a weirdo girl that can't be spoken to normally. I don't want that. I want to be treated like everyone else. I _need_ to be."

Damon watched her silently. She knew he didn't understand, and how could he? If she were in his position, she'd probably want to report it to the police too. But she needed him to understand. She needed it to be kept a secret.

Elena bent over and grabbed his hands. "Please, Damon," Elena begged him. "Don't tell anyone. I have enough to deal with at the moment and I don't think I can handle people looking at me and whispering to their friends and pointing fingers at me as an added burden to take. Just… Just keep it a secret, okay?"

Damon looked at her and licked his lips again. Then he nodded. "Okay."

Elena let out the breath she hadn't noticed she was holding and tried to smile. "Thank you," she said and added, after a pause, "Not just for this… For everything."

Damon faked a smile and looked away. "So… How about we eat that delicious piece of cake I've bought?" he said, changing the subject.

"Hell yes," Elena said happily and took a sip of her coffee. It was just right. No milk, but a little bit of sugar. "How much do I owe you?"

Damon handed one piece of cake over to her and looked at her, obviously confused. "What are you talking about?"

"The coffee and cake," Elena said. "How much did it cost?"

Damon suppressed a laugh. "You're not paying for it, Elena. I'm inviting you, you could say."

"No, I mean it," Elena insisted. "One of my ex-boyfriends paid everything for me and once I broke up with him, he wanted me to pay him everything back. I'm not risking this again. I was dead broke for two months."

Damon raised an eyebrow. "Well, first, I'm not your boyfriend."

Elena blushed. "That's not the point—"

"Oh, I know," Damon smirked. "But that means you can't break up with me and I can't make you pay me everything back. Plus, I'm not a douche bag, I would never ask you to do that."

Elena smiled. "Okay," she said finally. "Thank you then."

"You're welcome," he replied and took a bite.

She was still smiling as she did the same and shoved a piece of her cake into her mouth. "Oh my god," she moaned with her mouth still full. "This is delicious."

Damon smirked and reached out. "You have a bit of chocolate there," he said and wiped it off the corner of her mouth with his thumb.

Elena smiled shyly and blushed. "Thanks," she mumbled and they continued eating in silence.

Eventually, Damon broke the silence and asked: "So tell me something about you. You're from New York, they say?"

She swallowed and took a sip of her coffee. "Yeah," she lied. "I was at one of those fancy schools only snobs go to."

"Ha, so you're saying you're a snob, too?" he asked and smiled.

"No," Elena giggled. "I'm saying everyone _but me_ was a snob. Even the girls I was friends with. And ugh, the guys were awful. So lame. And still arrogant."

"Well, here they're not," Damon said and wiggled his eyebrows. "I'm the perfect example, aren't I, babe?"

Elena laughed. "Sure you are," she said and pushed him a little. She took another sip of her coffee and looked outside. "It's already getting dark," she said. "I think there'll be a thunderstorm tonight."

"Ugh, I hope not," Damon said as he followed her glance and looked at the dark clouds, too. "I'm not in the mood to arrive soaking wet at the game."

"Oh, right, I almost forgot about it," Elena said. "Good luck for tonight."

"You're not coming?" Damon asked surprised.

"Well, no," Elena admitted and licked her lips. "I don't want to be in the center of attention today. With the cheerleaders, you know."

"Yeah, yeah, sure," he said quickly. "The squad will be missing its best dancer, though."

"I promise I'll be at the next game," she said even though she wasn't sure if she could keep the promise.

"No worries," Damon said nonchalantly. "But you'll be all alone during the game. Caroline and Bonnie will still go, right?"

"Of course they will," Elena replied. "Caroline's the captain, she can't miss out. But I'll be okay," she added, "I'll find something to be occupied with until they come back."

"And the game isn't taking that long. But where are they at the moment? Did you get rid of them to be alone with me?" he joked, wiggling his eyebrows. Then his hand flew to his mouth. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry. I guess you're really not in the mood for these kinds of jokes, I'm really—"  
Elena laughed. "Hey, come on, it's okay," she said. "Just behave like you always do. As I told you, that's what I want. Just act normal." Then she added, as an afterthought, "and please don't remind me of what happened with comments like that, I don't want pictures of last night flaring up in my mind every five seconds."

"Sure," he said. He took a last bite of his cake and laid halfway down on her bed, making himself comfortable. "Tell me a little more about you."

"I don't know what you want to hear from me."

"Well, for example, how old are you? You're a sophomore, right? What do you like to do in your free time? Do you like reading? Are you a cat or a dog person? Do you like—"

"Okay, okay, stop it," Elena giggled and laid down next to him; he was on his tummy and she lied on her left, watching him. "I'm sixteen and yes, I'm a sophomore. Uh, I like dancing, writing, going to parties, hanging out with friends, reading—just the normal teenie stuff. And I have no idea if I'm a cat or a dog person, what kind of question is that?"

"I don't know, I couldn't think of anything else," Damon laughed. "My turn. I'm eighteen, I'm a senior and I like every kind of sport, I guess. Oh, except golf, that's douchy. I like my dumb mates and pretty girls, obviously, and I like reading. But don't tell, that'd ruin my reputation."

They both laughed. "Oh, no worries," she said in between giggles. "What's your favorite book then?"

"Don't have one. There're too many," he said and turned around so he was lying on his back. He yawned. "This weather is making me tired."

Elena lied down on her back, too. They stared at the ceiling. "Yeah, me too."

After a while, Elena turned her head and asked: "How did you manage to come in, by the way? I thought 'no boys allowed in the dorms' and all?"

Damon's eyes were closed. He smirked. "'Told 'em I was someone's brother. It's visiting day on Saturdays, so it wasn't very hard to get in."

Elena turned her head and smiled. She really _was_ tired. It would be amazing if she could just fall asleep right now. She snuggled to her left and closed her eyes, too. Something in the back of her mind told her they shouldn't sleep right now, but she couldn't remember why. She felt Damon's arm around her waist as she drifted over to sleepy land.

_a/n: thanks everyone for reviewing! this chapter is a really long one, i know. I tried to improve with your tips, i hope i did at least a little. :)_  
_school is starting in a few days and i still have bunch of exams to write so i hope you'll be okay if the next chapters aren't on time. i hope you enjoyed this one; reviews keep me inspired!_  
_xoxo hana_


	4. Chapter 4 - Let's be middle schoolers

**CHAPTER 4 – LET'S BE MIDDLE SCHOOLERS ONE LAST TIME**

**a/n: thanks for all the reviews again, I appreciate every single one of them! (and thanks for wishing me good luck for my exams, I've written all of them now and there's only one presentation left that I hope I won't screw up :/) and sorry that it took me so long to update but school really is kicking the hell out of me atm!  
who else is excited for this week's new tvd episode? Everyone I guess :) what do you think about the new episodes anyways?  
whatever. Here's my new chapter, enjoy and review if you have time!**

**Ps. I hope you don't mind that I did a little gender swap with one of the characters…**

"Awwwwwww! How adorable is that?!" a female voice made Elena jump awake. Less than a second later, another one was shushing the other one down: "Shut up, Caroline! They're asleep!"

But it was already too late. Elena had jerked at the sudden noise and woken up Damon in the process. "What is happening?" Damon mumbled without opening his eyes and pulled her against his chest.

"Hey, Team captain, shouldn't you be at the gym right now, training with your mates? It's only one and a half hours before the big game tonight," Caroline stated and crossed her arms.

Elena blinked and tried to sit up. "What? It's already 6.30? How long did we sleep?"

At the sound of her voice, Damon jerked his eyes open and sat up straight. He still didn't seem to notice the others standing in the doorway and looked confused at Elena. Quickly, he looked down to check if his clothes were still on and let out a relieved breath. "Huh, thank god, I've already thought we…" His eyes flickered to Bonnie and Caroline, now both having their arms crossed and their eyebrows raised. Elena blushed. "I mean… I already thought I missed the game, obviously."

"Yeah," Caroline said, trying to hide her smile. "Obviously."

Damon glanced at her, knitted his eyebrows and finally shrugged and looked away. He yawned exaggeratedly and jumped out of bed to put his shoes and coat on. When he turned around to look at Elena, he realized she was still sitting on her bed. His glance wandered from her to her friends. "Um… Could you leave us alone for a sec?"

Caroline wanted to say something snippy, but Bonnie beat her to it: "Of course. We'll wait outside."

She pushed her protesting friend out of the room and closed the door behind them. From outside, you could her a loud "now shut up, Caroline!".

Elena giggled awkwardly. "Now that was awkward."

"You think?" Damon asked and flopped himself on the bed beside her. After a short silence, he added: "You said you wanted everything to go back to normal, right?"

"Right," Elena said and watched him, waiting for him to continue.

He looked at his fingers. "So… If yesterday had never happened, I would've probably crashed your place with some teammates and friends after the game and we'd have had a little party. I wondered if we could still do it? The party, I mean." Elena hesitated and avoided his stare. "Look, not a big party like the one last night, just a few guys, like five friends of mine or so, and maybe a few cheerleaders? Some friends of Bonnie's and Caroline's?"

"I… I'm not sure," Elena stuttered. "I don't even know those guys you're talking about…"

Damon smiled, encouraging her, and grabbed her hand to squeeze it lightly. "They're really nice. I mean, really. And I think you already know some of them. Tyler and Klaus, was it? You were playing some game with them the other night. Plus, to be honest, you don't know me either and yet I'm sitting here on your bed."

Elena giggled. "You're right. Okay. When will you be here then?"

* * *

Elena eyed herself in the mirror. She wore black, tight fitting leather pants, a bright blue top that matched her earrings and some black stilettos she didn't even remember bringing to boarding school. She sighed and walked over to Caroline's dresser to burrow her curling iron. Her hair looked awful and she needed a new look. _New start, new style_, Elena thought, sat down on her bed and started curling her hair.

Her eyes wandered around the room as she remembered what had happened when Damon had gone.

_"Awwwwww!" Caroline squeaked and jumped up and down. "You looked so cute! Why didn't I think of taking a picture? I'm so stupid, you should have seen yourself there with Damon!"_

_"Calm down, Caroline," Elena said a little annoyed by her friend's over exaggerated enthusiasm. "We were just talking and both tired, so we fell asleep eventually."_

_"I'm sure that's what happened," Caroline giggled._

_Elena looked to the ground and Bonnie, who had noticed her being uncomfortable, quickly said to change the topic: "C'mon, Care, you should show Elena what you've bought."_

_Caroline's face lit up. "Great idea! I'm gonna put it on and show you the _live version_, if you know what I mean." She winked and Bonnie and Elena rolled their eyes. Caroline really behaved like a little kid sometimes._

_"Great," Bonnie said, in a tone that obviously stated she thought everything else of it but great._

_"What's wrong? Why so annoyed?" Elena asked and regarded her friend curiously._

_"Nothing, really," she answered and let herself fall on Elena's bed with her head bumping onto the comfy blanket. "I'm just really tired. You have no idea how exhausting it is to go shopping with Caroline."_

_"Hey! I heard that!" the blonde girl shouted from the bathroom._

_Elena giggled. "I'm sorry I made you go with her." When her friend came out of the bathroom, she immediately stopped giggling and raised her eyebrows in astonishment. "Actually I'm not sorry. Wow, Caroline, you look dashing."_

_Caroline smiled shyly. "Thank you," she said. "You were right, I do feel more confident in these… _clothes_."_

_Elena smiled. Bonnie was about to sit up and say something, when a knock sounded on the door._

_"Who's there?" Elena asked._

_"It's Stefanie, may I come in?" a muffled voice from outside on the corridor replied._

_Caroline rolled her eyes and mouthed: "What does she want?" before sneaking back into the bathroom. Elena shot her a confused glance and told Stefanie to come in._

_"Hello," the brown-haired girl said while entering. _

_"Didn't you have red hair back at the gym?" Elena wondered out loud before being able to stop herself. Quickly, she added: "I mean, at least it seemed like it. Now it seems sort of light brown…"_

_Bonnie started laughing and Stefanie looked kind of irritated and her cheeks turned slightly pinkish. "My hair is actually light brown as it is right now. But when we were at the gym yesterday… My brother, who is on the basketball team, and a few of his mates thought it'd be funny to exchange my normal shampoo with a semi-permanent hair color to make me look like a clown. Luckily my hair dresser could die my hair back to almost the same color I usually have."_

_Elena bit her lips to suppress a giggle at the other girl's way of expression. "Who's your brother?" she asked instead._

_"Damon," Stefanie replied and had Elena raise her eyebrows. Damon had a little sister? Why hadn't he mentioned her in their previous conversation? Lost in thought, Elena missed the beginning of what the other girl was talking about now. "—the reason why I am here, actually. I saw him sneak out of your room earlier. You know boys in the dorms are forbidden. And what was he doing here anyway? I thought I've seen you go into town or something. Is anything missing? Did he steal—"_

_"No, he didn't," Caroline answered in a bitchy tone, pulling a loose shirt over her head while coming out of the bathroom. "He was here to meet Elena. And don't be so smug all the time. Nobody gives a crap about boys being in our dorms."_

_"Of course people give a crap about it!" Stefanie exclaimed. "The teachers, our parents, the students—"_

_"I guess with 'the students' you're referring to yourself, Steffi?" Caroline said annoyed._

_"I… Oh, shut up!" Damon's sister turned around and slammed the door shut behind her._

_"You don't have to bully her all the time, Caroline," Bonnie said tauntingly._

_"She deserved it." Caroline was grabbing her uniform and stuff and pushing it into her bag. "How come she doesn't annoy you?"_

_"I never said she didn't annoy me. It's just that… It wasn't easy for her the last few years, you know," Bonnie said quietly._

_"What wasn't easy for her?" Elena asked, clearly missing something._

_"Her mom died when she was a little girl. And her dad has shipped both of his kids off to boarding school because he couldn't stand looking at them and always seeing their mother's features in their faces," Bonnie replied. She looked sad._

_There was a short silence until Caroline snapped: "Come on, Bonnie, you don't even know if that's true. All we know is that their mom died and that they go here. The rest is something our not-so-pretty little liar told us."_

_"But why would she lie about that?" Bonnie said._

_"Maybe because she's angry at her father for not being there for her," Caroline suggested, shrugging her shoulders and combing her hair into a ponytail._

_Elena had felt a sharp pain going all through her body as Bonnie told her about Stefanie's and Damon's family situation. Now, she was looking at her fingers and trying to switch back to her role. She would have to keep it together until the others were gone. "I don't think she would tell a lie like that just because she's pissed at her father, Care," Elena finally said. "I mean, I'm pretty pissed at mine but I would never lie about something like that."_

_Caroline stopped combing her hair for a sec and looked at her friend. She seemed to hesitate on how to reply to that but eventually said in a really calm voice: "I believe you, Elena, and if I were you, I'd probably think the same, but you don't know Stefanie. I've known her since first grade and she's always been a bitch to everyone; or actually, she seems to be nice to everyone but is telling lies about you behind your back. She thinks she's better than the rest of us and that pisses me off."_

_"I don't think she lied, Caroline," Bonnie said, this time with an edge to her voice. "The night she told me this, she was totally wrecked. She had drunk way too much at the Grill and I don't think she could've lied in that state."_

_"Whatever," Caroline shrugged, obviously not in the mood to talk about Stefanie anymore. "Come here, Bonnie, I'll braid your hair, we must hurry. We're supposed to meet the others in fifteen minutes and you haven't even applied your make up yet."_

* * *

Finishing her hair by curling her last strand, Elena stood up, pulled the plug and laid the curling iron down on her dresser, where it couldn't burn anything. She adjusted her top and leaned against the wall. Damon and the others would be there in about one hour, and she still had no idea where to get some alcohol and candy without leaving her room. She didn't want to go out into the dark alone. What if there was Shane or other guys with the same intentions that Shane had? But if she wanted it to be a normal party tonight, she'd have to get out sooner or later and buy something at the gas station. There wasn't much of an option unless she wanted to stay sober tonight which she certainly didn't.

She put the now-cold curling iron back into Caroline's dresser and put on her jacket. Having taken a deep breath, she pushed the door open and went outside. She would not live her life in fear because of what Shane did. She needed to leave that behind her. She left Logan and everything that happened in Detroit behind her and she could do the same with Shane. That's what she hoped for, anyways.

The corridor was dark out and nobody could be seen. They were all at the game tonight. She switched the lights on and made her way down the stairs where she encountered Ms. Sommers, her English teacher.

"Elena," she heard her say in surprise. "I thought nobody was here except for me? Why aren't you at the big game?"

"Hi Ms. Sommers," Elena said. "I didn't feel like it. I don't know, I don't feel so good and I thought maybe some fresh air would make me feel better," she lied.

"But you shouldn't go out there alone, honey," Ms. Sommers said worriedly. She looked around the empty hall and seemed to make a quick decision. "Wait here. I'm just grabbing my coat and then I'll go with you."

"That's really nice, Ms. Sommers, but I can look after myself. I don't want you to get into any trouble for leaving your workplace—"

"Don't worry, honey, there's no one here anyways," Ms. Sommers winked and went upstairs.

Secretly, Elena was glad that someone joined her and she didn't have to go all the way by herself. Whatever she'd decided earlier about leaving Shane behind her—she was still scared and probably would be for a while. She couldn't change that once and for all, but she could pretend everything was okay so that the others would believe her. _And eventually_, she thought_, I'll believe it, too._

The problem with Ms. Sommers accompanying her was, though, that there'd be no way she could buy alcohol at the service station. She'd been sure she could convince the shop assistant there to give some to her even if she couldn't show him an ID card, but with a teacher at her back, she could say goodbye to that plan.

"Okay, let's go," Ms. Sommers shouted as she ran down the stairs.

Elena smiled and held the door open for her.

"Thanks," her teacher said as she walked outside. "Where did you want to go?"

Elena hesitated before choosing to tell her the truth. "Um… Actually, I lied to you… I mean, not about me not feeling well enough to go to the game, but about going outside. I wanted to go to the gas station and buy some candy, not to cool my head. Buy some chocolate, chips and maybe a few bottles of coke. For Caroline, Bonnie and me when they come back."

Ms. Sommers laughed. "Oh, no problem, Elena. Gosh, I already thought you'd tell me you'd wanted to buy drugs or something. Huh, that'd've been awkward."

Elena giggled. "What? No. I don't do drugs, Ms. Sommers," she said and thought: _At least not anymore_.

For a few moments, they walked the streets in silence. "So… Have you already made some friends?" Ms. Sommers asked finally.

"Um… I guess so. I really like my roommates Bonnie and Caroline. And… Some guys from the boys' school are pretty nice too," Elena said hesitatingly. "It's a little awkward talking about it considering you're my teacher."

"Oh, I'm sorry you feel that way," Ms. Sommers said. "I always thought I wasn't like the other teachers here. When I began working here I hoped I'd be up to date with all the gossip flowing around and friends with the mean girls and stuff…"

Elena smiled. "O-kay? Well, I've only been here for two days, so basically, I have no idea about the latest gossip."

"True. You're from New York City, right?" Ms. Sommers asked. "I've lived there for a few months when I was eighteen. But it's too crowded in my opinion. Too loud. I enjoy the silence here."

"Hm," Elena said and looked at her feet. "I miss it a lot. The silence here lets you think too much."

"You think so?" Ms. Sommers said. "What does it make you think about?"

"I don't know," Elena admitted. "Bad memories. Good memories. Feelings. People. Dead people. People that are still alive. It's just too much sometimes."

Ms. Sommers looked at her sympathetically. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah, sure," Elena said and wiped a tear off her face she hadn't noticed falling down her cheek. "I guess I just miss my parents."

Before Elena could prevent her from it, Ms. Sommers slung her arms around her and hugged her tightly. "I'm sure they'll visit you soon."

Elena resisted telling her that they won't because they were dead. She knew she couldn't and _shouldn't_.

Eventually, Ms. Sommers let go of her and they noticed that they'd already arrived at the gas station. They walked inside and grabbed two bags of chips, three bags of microwave popcorn, candy and three bottles of coke.

"You don't really think I believe you that you're buying this just for you, Caroline and Bonnie? I've been a high schooler, too, and not that long ago, either, you know," Ms. Sommers said and winked. "After a game, there's never just 'girls' night'."

Busted. Elena blushed. "Well, we wanted to have a little party with some other girls—" At her teacher's expression, she added surrendering "—and some boys… "

"I knew it!" her teacher shouted happily. "I'm sorry. I'm embarrassing, I know. Well, I guess I've crossed your plan then and stopped you from sneaking alcohol in by coming here and making sure you can't buy some."

Elena blushed in a deeper red. Why did her teacher know exactly what she'd been planning to do?

"Well, I obviously can't allow you to buy some, but I can keep quiet and won't tell anyone about your party. Just try not to play too loud music, Mrs. Fell, the matron, has a nice ear."

Elena smiled happily, being slightly shocked at the coolness of her teacher. _She's probably so nice because she's still so young, _Elena thought. _She can probably remember what it was like to be sixteen._

* * *

Fifteen minutes later, Elena and Ms. Sommers arrived back at the school. The lights were still out so they assumed the game hadn't ended yet.

"Thank you for accompanying me, Ms. Sommers," Elena said, "And for keeping quiet about tonight."

"No problem, honey," her teacher replied and smiled. "Just remember reading Act IV until Monday," she added as an afterthought and winked.

"Oh, I've already read _A Midsummer Night's Dream_," Elena admitted. "I already know what's gonna happen."

"Oh? You did?" Ms. Sommers. "Well, then I'll just wish you and your friends a great night and don't do anything stupid!"

Elena giggled and went upstairs, preparing bowls for the candy and chips and popping the popcorn in the little microwave on the small table next to the bathroom door. When she'd finished, she checked the time: Still fifteen minutes left until the others were coming.

Elena sat down on her bed and pulled a sketchpad out of her bag. She grabbed a pen and began writing a letter. That's what she'd been told to do to cope with everything that had happened to her.

_It'll make it easier to pretend you're okay,_ the man had told her._ You'll see, it'll help you. Just make sure to destroy the letters once you wrote and read them. No one can find them._

Elena took a deep breath and began writing.

_Dear Mom, dear Dad,_

_I'm sorry about what happened. I've never intended things to go that far. And I certainly didn't want the others to go after you when it was me they were coming for. I should've… I should have…_

Elena bit her lip and tried to stop her hand from trembling so she could continue writing.

_…I should have stopped them. Somehow. But I guess there was nothing I could do. If I had listened to you two and had stopped dating Logan, maybe none of this would have happened. I should have backed out when I still could. But I didn't and I try not to think about it too much because, just like you, Dad, always said: "What happened in the past is the past. There's nothing you could do to change it." I really try to think that way. But it's not that easy and I hope that you, if you can still see me from up there or something, can forgive me._

_I love you. And I miss you so much._

_Yours, Katie_

Elena put her pen down and tried not to let the tears fall down and ruin her make-up. She took several deep breaths and read her letter all over again. She'd signed with the nickname her parents had given her. It was a pretty unusual nickname for her first name. But her mom had always said that "Katie" was what she would've liked being called when she was a little kid. Elena smiled at the memory of her mom telling her the story of little Miranda telling everyone to call her Katie.

She read the letter one last time, closed her eyes and crumpled the letter to a small ball. She grabbed her lighter from the top of her dresser and began burning the piece of paper. When she was done, she collected the burned pieces and threw them into the trash. She looked outside the window and saw her friends and Damon with a bunch of other people walking towards the entrance. Sure, just five people or so, she thought and shook her head in mock disapproval.

Quickly, she walked into the bathroom and checked her mirror image. She wiped away the tear that had been escaping her eyes against her will and adjusted her top once more.

_Ready for new, improved Elena to show everyone what she's got_, Elena thought and winked at herself in the mirror.

One second later, she heard the door open and a bunch of people laughing and shushing everyone to be quiet at the same time entered. Elena walked out of the bathroom and quickly turned the music on.

The others were hanging up their jackets and coats and making themselves comfortable. Elena closed her eyes shortly and when she opened them again, she smiled the most genuine way she could muster. She caught Damon looking at her while letting himself fall on her bed. "Hey, babe," he greeted her and winked. "How's it going?"

"It's going great, _moron_," Elena smiled as she walked over to Damon. "So I assume we won?"

"We?" Damon asked and raised his eyebrows.

"Well, since I'm cheering for your team, yes, it's 'we'."

Damon shook his head and grinned. "Sure _we_ did. "

A guy Elena had never seen before walked towards them and said: "Hey, cutie, how are you?"

"Are you serious, man?" Damon laughed at his friend's attempt to flirt with the girl who he was obviously talking to at the moment. "Elena, this is Alaric, he's my best friend and cooler no. 1."

Elena smiled and said hi.

Alaric stood there for a moment, then ran his fingers through his hair and asked: "Well, Damon. I guess it was good we brought the alcohol, here doesn't seem to be some…"

"You brought alcohol?" Elena asked relieved. "Oh thank god. I wanted to buy some at the service station but one of my teachers said I couldn't go out alone this late and insisted on accompanying me. There was no way I could smuggle some alcohol in… I already thought I had to stay sober, phew."

Alaric smirked. "No way. Come with me, I'll mix you a drink."

Elena hesitated. She glanced at Damon who nodded encouragingly as if saying "he's okay." Elena smiled shyly and followed Alaric to Caroline's dresser who some of the new arrivals must have transformed into a bar.

"Are you not going to ask me what I want?" she asked Alaric who had already begun mixing substances.

"No," he replied and winked at her surprised face. "Don't worry, I won't roofie you or anything. You can watch my every move."

Elena's smile slipped for a brief moment, but she got herself under control pretty fast and forced herself to look nonchalant. "Are you at least telling me what you're mixing there?"

The guy smirked. He was cute. "Sex on the beach."

Elena smiled and shook her head. When she looked around, she noticed that Matt was there, horsing around with some of his friends. Searching the room with her eyes, she found Caroline talking to Bonnie. She looked pretty grumpy. _Oh no_, Elena thought. _Something went wrong._ _Why aren't they on their date?_

"Here you go," Alaric said and handed the drink to her.

She thanked him and took a sip, swallowed and coughed a little. "What the hell?" she asked. "Sure this is a _sex on the beach_, and not pure vodka?"

"Well, let's say I accidentally put a little too much of it in," Alaric winked and disappeared in the crowd.

Elena took another sip and closed her eyes at the burning of the alcohol in her throat. At least she'd get drunk fast.

When she had half finished her cocktail within two minutes, Anna from the cheerleader squad stalked towards her. "Hey, Elena, I missed you tonight," she said and leaned against the bar. "I'm glad you're better now."

"Yeah, me too," Elena said while emptying her glass.

"So… I heard you're from New York City? What's it like? My boyfriend is going to go to a college there."

"Well, it's certainly bigger than this dump. And louder. And there are more and cooler parties. Here, it's kinda lame sometimes," Elena admitted, hoping Anna wouldn't be offended.

"Yeah, I know what you mean," Anna said. "I'm from San Francisco. But no worries, you'll get used to it eventually."

"If you say so," Elena said, already feeling the effect of the alcohol she'd drunk kick in. She should have eaten something before emptying a whole glass of (almost) pure vodka within less than five minutes. "Why are you here? I mean, I'm sure there're a hundred other boarding schools nearer to San Francisco than this one."

"Says the girl from NYC," Anna joked and filled her paper cup with punch. "But you're right. It's sort of a tradition in my family to go here. My mom did, and so did her mom and hers and so on. I didn't exactly have a choice."

"Well, it doesn't seem like you don't like it here," Elena said and smiled a little.

"No, I actually like it," Anna replied truthfully. "I mean, there's always a lot of bitchiness in school with all the girls, but on the weekends we can meet up with the boys. Apropos boys, have you seen Jeremy? The tall guy with the brown hair?"

"No, sorry," Elena said. "Is this Jeremy your boyfriend?"

"Yeah," Anna said absently and looked around. "I guess I'll look for him before he gets drunk and does something he'll regret tomorrow… Bye."

With that, the tiny black-haired girl left, disappearing in the crowd. Elena put her empty glass on the dresser-bar-whatever-it's-called and mixed with the other guests, closing her eyes and getting lost in the music. She put her arms in the air and danced to the music, feeling how her mind was dizzying by the second.

She didn't have any idea of how much time had passed when someone tapped her on the shoulder. She opened her eyes and looked into piercing blue ones.

"May I join?" Damon asked.

Elena just nodded and put her arms on his shoulders, his coming up to her waist without pulling her towards him. He was still trying to preserve distance between the two of them to not make her feel uncomfortable. She smiled at his modesty.

"You're enjoying the party? Alaric told me he mixed you a _sex on the beach_," Damon said, trying not to smirk.

"Already finished it," she said proudly and pulled him a little closer.

Damon looked a little surprised but shrugged and they danced a few minutes in silence.

"Too bad we don't have a ping pong table here," Elena said suddenly.

"So we could play beer pong?" Damon asked, reading her mind. "Yeah, too bad."

"How about some other game then?" Elena asked excited. "We could play 'spin the bottle' or 'seven minutes in heaven'?"

Damon laughed. "What are we? Twelve?"

Elena pouted. "I always liked those games. We could just pretend to be middle schoolers for one night."

Damon shook his head in amusement. "Okay, why not," he finally said. "Grab a bottle, babe, I'll look for some people to join us."

"Okay," she said and smiled.

Damon returned the smile and kissed her on her forehead. "Go ahead."

Elena was too drunk to notice the expression on his face and Damon was glad about it. He turned around to find Alaric and the others.

Meanwhile, Elena was trying to find an empty bottle. All she found was an almost-empty vodka bottle, meaning there was still a fourth of the liquid in it. She shrugged and chugged the remaining content.

"Got one!" she shouted and fought her way through the dancing people to Damon, Alaric, Matt, Caroline and Vickie.

"So what do you want to play exactly? Seven minutes or spin the bottle?" Vickie asked, being, just like Elena, not-so-sober.

"Let's start with a normal spin the bottle game and see where it gets us," the girl winked and spun the bottle.

It stopped at Alaric. Elena grinned. "Uh, I get to kiss the bar tender."

She leaned over and grabbed his face, pulling it towards hers and closing her mouth over his. Her tongue easily slid through his opened lips and quickly found his to circle around with. She bit his bottom lip slightly causing him to moan out loud. She opened her eyes and let go.

Licking her lips, Elena said: "Who's next?"

She caught Damon's glance and saw… confusion in it? Or was it disgust? Or something entirely different? She couldn't tell.

As she focused back on the game, she realized Vickie had spun the bottle. It pointed to Matt. "Ew, gross, I'm not gonna kiss my brother," the girl said disgusted.

"Turn once more," Damon suggested and she did.

This time it pointed to Damon. He smirked and bent over to Vickie. As their lips touched, Elena was glad she'd drunk so much. When he opened his mouth for her, she looked away and searched for Bonnie with her eyes. She found her, to Elena's huge surprise, making out with this Chris guy. Elena smiled. They looked cute.

Someone next to her cleared their throat and she noticed the bottle had been spun already. And it was pointing to her. She looked from the bottle to Damon who was looking at her as if asking for permission. _No_, she thought. _I'm not kissing him here. Not in front of all the others. Not when he's looking at me like I'm a broken toy._

She didn't have any other idea to get out of this than pretending to have to throw up. She held up one finger and covered her mouth with her other hand, quickly standing up and running towards the bathroom.

She threw the door open and nearly did puke. Jeremy and Anna were in there. And neither of them wore clothes. She quickly closed the door again, hearing a "get the fuck out!" shouted after her.

She leaned against the wall next to the door and slid down. She felt dizzy; and for whatever reason, she was hungry as hell. She hadn't eaten anything since the cake Damon had brought that afternoon.

"Elena? Are you okay?" the voice of said guy said.

"Hmmmmmmmmmmm?" was all she could muster to get out.

"Come here," Damon said sympathetically. "Take my hand; I'll help you get up."

She did as he asked her to and stood up. When she wanted to let go of his hand, he only grabbed it tighter and supported her with an arm around her waist. She wanted to protest, but only that one small move would have sent her falling on her ass if Damon hadn't held on to her, so she kept her mouth shut.

"Come with me," he said quietly and led her out of the party into the visitor's toilet all the way down the corridor. He closed the door behind them and lifted her up to sit her down between two of the basins. He pushed her hair out of her face and looked her in the eyes.

"Do you need to throw up?" he asked worriedly.

Elena tried to focus on him and look serious. "No, I don't think so."

His hands were still around her head, his thumbs stroking her cheeks softly. "Then why did you run from kissing me? Is it because of Sh…"

Her hand went forward, originally intended to cover his mouth and keep him from saying Shane's name, but she missed her goal and hit him slightly on his nose.

His surprised expression made her laugh. "No, I… I couldn't stand the expression on your face when you looked at me."

He knitted his eyebrows together in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"I mean… You know, this look on your face. Look in the mirror, don't you see it?"

"You mean me being absolutely dashing? Gorgeous? Irresistible?" he asked and wiggled his eyebrows.

She nudged his shoulder lightly and giggled. "No, " she said, remembering what she was trying to tell him. "You look at me like you can't touch me. Like you can't stand looking at the girl who's almost been raped—" She broke off and avoided his eyes.

"Elena, Elena, look at me," he whispered, cupping her face with his hands, forcing her to meet his eyes. "You got that completely wrong. I'm just unsure of how to deal with all of this…"

"And you think _I'm_ _not_?" Elena was almost shouting, getting furious all of a sudden. How dare he excuse the way he looked at her with insecurity of how to deal with her? It was her who was raped. It was her who had to deal with it, not _him_. "It was _me_ after all who Shane—"

"That is not what I'm saying!" Damon said, suddenly angry, letting go of her and stalking through the room. He stroked his stubbles and turned back to her. "What would _you_ do in my situation, Elena? I have no idea about what you're okay with and what you're not. I barely _know_ you. How am I supposed to know how to react in situations like that?"

"You know how!" Elena shouted. "I said I wanted everyone to react _normal, _to behave _normal_…"

"I _know_ you said that! And if _normal_ is for you to stick your tongue into a stranger's mouth and get completely drunk, then okay. But don't come to me if you do that to someone who's not as nice as Ric and takes advantage of the situation."

"What are you saying?" she hissed, feeling clearer now.

He stared at her with wild eyes. "If you keep behaving like some cheap little whore, it'll be no wonder if another _Shane _goes after you."

Elena flinched at his words. She stared at him for a long time, then she slid down the basin and slapped him across his face. Her lips began to tremble against her will and she quickly wiped her tears away before bursting out of the room. He had no right to talk to her like that. All she had wanted was to have a good night and forget about what had happened to her. And if Damon thought of her as a whore, he could fuck the hell off. Not her problem. But she couldn't deny that her heart ached at the thought of Damon thinking of her as a "cheap little whore".

She had almost reached her room, when she heard him shout her name after her. "Elena! Wait!"

She walked a little faster, but before she could push the door to the party open, he grabbed her by the wrist and turned her around.

"Elena, listen," Damon began. "I didn't—"

"Let go of me!" she shouted, trying to break free. "You've made your opinion about me very clear, now fuck off!"

"Is there a problem?" A guy behind Elena asked and looked at her. "Is he bothering you?"

"No, I'm not," Damon hissed and tried to pull her away so he could talk to her in private.

"I think you should back off, Damon," the guy said calmly and broke Damon's grip from Elena's wrist.

"I think it's _you_ that should back off," Damon said and glared at the guy.

"Hey, are you ok?" the guy asked Elena, ignoring Damon completely.

Elena nodded. "It's… nothing."

"Are you sure? He didn't touch you without your permission, did he?"

At that, Damon turned him around and punched the guy in the face. Elena screamed and stumbled backwards as the other boy found his balance again and hit Damon back.

"Stop it! STOP IT!" Elena screamed as the two boys fell to the floor, hitting and kicking each other.

"What is going on here?" a loud and authoritative voice asked as the lights in the corridor were switched on, blaring everyone who was there.

**a/n: phew, that was a chapter. Who would have expected this to happen? Well, to be honest, not even I did. :)**

**Tell me what you about it in the reviews please! And please don't be too harsh/unfriendly if you don't like it, but you're welcome to tell me why and make a suggestion of how to improve if that is the case! ;)**

**Note: the relations in this story are slightly different. Meaning, Elena and Jeremy are not related, neither are Elena and Jenna (Ms. Sommers!)/Jeremy and Jenna. I hope you won't rip my head off for turning Stefan into a girl, it's not meant to be an insult, it's just an important thing for this story. Plus, all characters, unless stated otherwise, are in the age of 15-19. So Alaric is about 18 like Damon in case you wondered. This also needs to be remembered considering their characters. They are all teenagers, so some character traits are different.**

**To other pairings than Delena in this story: It will probably be Caroline/Matt, Bonnie/Chris and some (hopefully) unexpected twist that you'll see in further chapters. But as you might have noticed, what I originally intend to happen doesn't always happen in the end, so don't nail me down on it. And I'm sorry, since season four, I'm not much of a Klaroline fan, so I'm not sure if it's ever going to happen… But there is an idea coming up in my mind so maybe there will be Klaroline after all… :)**

**Ps. In case you think Chris is a person I made up, you're wrong: it's the hybrid that Jeremy killed a few episodes ago! If you have any other questions, pm or ask me in the reviews!**

**xoxo hana**


	5. Chapter 5 - Detention

**CHAPTER 5 – DETENTION**

Damon had been trying to talk to her all week. But she didn't want to hear his lame apologies. There was nothing he could say to fix it anyways—the way he'd said what he thought about her left no doubt that he meant it. It was the ugly truth. And that stung. Especially since Elena had thought that maybe they could become good friends and that she'd found someone who understood her. Someone who lost someone beloved just like she did. But now she could safely do without him. It wasn't like she didn't have any other friends at school. She still had Caroline and Bonnie. And all the others.

Elena turned her head to the side to search for Bonnie's eyes, but her friend was busy drawing sketches on her sketch pad. Elena looked to the other side to see what Caroline was doing. The girl looked at her, then at the clock and rolled her eyes. Elena looked up at the clock, too, to check the time. Still 20 minutes to go. She sighed. She should have listened to Ms. Sommers when she had warned her about Mrs. Fell. That crazy old lady had first contacted Mrs. Lockwood, the girls' school principal, and as soon as she'd noticed that there were boys present, she'd called the boys' school principal Mr. John, too, who had then run over to the girls' dorm and put an end to the party. The only good thing about it was that he stopped the fight between Damon and Mason who would have probably killed each other if Mr. John hadn't pulled one of the boys back.

The rest of the party had ended pretty badly. Most of the girls and boys could disappear before they were caught by one of the teachers, but Caroline, Bonnie, Matt, Damon, Mason, Elena and Anna weren't that lucky. Anna, who had still been in the bathroom with her boyfriend Jeremy, had managed to sneak him out, but got caught before she could do likewise. But nevertheless, she, Elena's two roommates and Matt were lucky and this Friday was the last day of detention for them.

Elena, being a 'passive' part of the fist fight between Damon and Mason as their reason for it, had to come over to the boys' school five days of the week for the rest of month. The principal had originally intended to give Bonnie and Caroline the same punishment, but since Elena had taken the blame and claimed that the party was her idea and that the two girls were just unlucky to share a room with her, they got only one week of detention like Matt and Anna. Whatever.

Elena leaned back in her seat, let her head fall back and closed her eyes. What no-one except for her knew was that she was listening to music. Her long, brown hair covered the earphones and her iPod was hidden in a pocket inside of her hoodie.

After a good three songs, someone tapped her on the shoulder. She opened her eyes and turned around. Matt quickly sneaked a small piece of paper in her hand and mouthed 'from Damon'. Elena turned back around and faced the chalk board again. Mr. John, who was sitting at the teacher's desk, didn't seem to have noticed the small exchange. Elena turned the piece of paper back and forth with her fingers and debated with her herself whether she should read it or not. After a whole week avoiding slash ignoring Damon's attempts to talk to her—after detention, during cheerleader training or lunch break—she couldn't just give in and read his note. She fiercely crumpled the note and stood up, intending to throw it in the trash.

"What do you think you're doing?" Mr. John asked without looking up from his work.

"I… I just want to throw something in the trash," Elena replied truthfully.

"Then you ask for it and don't simply stand up and do as you want."

Mr. John laid his pen down and looked up. Elena raised her eyebrows in disbelief and kept on walking over to the trash can. Quickly, Mr. John stood up and grabbed her by the arm. Elena heard a chair being pushed backwards and saw Damon standing up out of the corner of her eye.

"No need to stand up, Mr. Salvatore," Mr. John bellowed. "You don't want to get another two weeks of detention, do you?"

Elena turned her head and looked at Damon who was staring wildly at his teacher.

His eyes flickered over to her and she slightly shook her head. He looked back at Mr. John, giving him the evil eye and finally sat back down again in defense.

Mr. John stared at him for another few seconds before he let go of Elena's arm and announced: "Give me that little note you wanted to throw in the trash, Ms. Gilbert."

Elena swallowed. She looked back at Damon to see if he looked embarrassed about what was about to come. Mr. John was surely reading it out loud in front of everyone. Damon avoided her eyes and looked at the ground, cursing.

Mr. John smiled evilly. "I see. You got a little note from our overprotective Mr. Salvatore there. Give it to me."

Elena's heart was beating fast now. She didn't know what was written in the note, but she guessed it was something embarrassing for Damon if it was read out loud. Probably some stupid apology.

She was still pretty pissed at him, but she didn't want to make him suffer in front of the whole class.

"I don't know what note you're talking about," Elena said nonchalantly and pushed the piece of paper inside her jeans.

"The note you just pushed into your jeans," Mr. John said, gritting his teeth. "Give. It. To. Me."

"As I said. I don't know what note you're talking about," Elena said and smiled. "And I'm certain that there is no note inside of my _jeans_."

"Of course there is! I saw how you pushed it inside!" Mr. John shouted. "I can prove it."

"Oh? Care to explain me how you want to do that?"

"Just put—" Mr. John stopped himself before the rest of the sentence slipped out.

"Did you just want to tell me to put my pants down?" Elena said and raised her eyebrows. "I really don't think this is appropriate in your position as the principal, sir."

"That is not what I was going to say," Mr. John said, desperately trying to keep his voice down. He took a deep breath to calm down and swallowed. "Everyone else saw you slipping the note in your jeans. Am I right?"

He looked at the others, expecting them to agree with him.

"Well, I'm sorry, sir, but I don't know what note you're talking about," Caroline said innocently.

"Don't you dare lie to me! If it wasn't for that note, why did she go to the trash can then?"

Elena quickly pulled out an old tissue while Mr. John was furiously staring at Caroline who was just staring back at him and shrugging. "I guess she just wanted to get rid of that tissue," the blonde finally said and pointed to the tissue Elena was now throwing in the trash can.

"I… This will have consequences," Mr. John pressed out between gritted teeth and banged his fist on the table just as the bell rang to signal the end of detention.

"I'm sure it will," Elena said as she grabbed her bag and left the room.

"That was genius," Bonnie greeted her outside of the classroom.

"Thanks," Elena smiled and added: "Let's go to the cheerleader training, then?"

"Sure," Caroline said and they made their way out of the boys' school.

"Elena! Wait!" she heard Damon shout behind them.

Bonnie and Caroline glanced at her. "It's okay. I'll see you at the gym," Elena said and stood, waiting for Damon to catch up.

"Oh, thank God, I already thought you'd ignore me again," he said smirking as he stopped beside her.

"What do you want?" Elena asked coldly.

"C'mon, Elena," Damon said, seeming a little desperate about her dismissive behavior. "Haven't you punished me enough for what I've said?"

"I'm not punishing you for anything," Elena said calmly. "I just don't want to hang around with people that think of me as a—what was it? A cheap little whore?"

Damon's shoulders sagged down. "Come on. You know I didn't mean it like that," he said ruefully.

"Yeah? Then I don't see why you said it in the first place," Elena snapped and was about to turn, when she felt his hand on her shoulders.

"Wait," he said as she turned back around and looked irritated at him.

"Can you please let go of my arm, the other girls are waiting for me at the gym."

"Just—Just read the note that I wrote you, okay?" Damon said and looked her straight in the eye. Elena didn't know what she saw in his eyes and before she could figure it out, Damon let go of her and walked past her and out of the building.

For a few seconds, Elena just stood there, frozen in the spot. Then she put her hand into her jeans and pulled the small piece of paper out of one of the pant legs where it had slipped in.

_Elena_, the note read. _I'm sorry about what I said to you. I swear I didn't mean it like that. I was just confused how you could act like nothing happened when not even I, who didn't go through what you did, could. And I guess I was just acting out because I was jealous that you kissed_ Ric_ but ran away from kissing _me_. I hope you can forgive me and don't think I'm a douche now. Can we please talk later after detention? I want to explain everything in person. D._

The last few sentences were written so small that Elena had a hard time deciphering them. When she finally did, she needed to read the note again to make sure her mind didn't play games with her. But she'd read was jealous? Why would he be jealous? Was he—? No, that wasn't possible. He barely knew her. He couldn't have a thing for her. He was just overprotective because of what had happened to her and mistaking it for actual feelings for her. She was sure of it.

A loud noise snapped her back to reality. Elena zipped her bag open and answered her phone while making her way out of the school.

"Elena! What is taking you so long? Damon's already here and we're still waiting! You said you'd participate in the performance tomorrow and you can't if you don't know the steps—"

"Hey, calm down, Care, I'll be there in a sec," Elena interrupted her excited friend and hung up.

_a/n: this chapter is a rather short one in comparison to the others. i'm not sure if i like it, but i hope you do :) next chapter will be longer, i just didn't want to make you wait such a long time again!_  
_hana x_


	6. Chapter 6 - Friendzone

**CHAPTER 6 – FRIENDZONE**

→** hey guys! i'm really sorry that i haven't updated for such a long time! but i've been abroad for a few weeks and life's been keeping me busy lately, so i didn't have much time to write. besides, season 4 is really not my thing and the damon/elena relationship is being completely ruined by that stupid sire bond/emotions off/cure storyline that's been the same for like 10 f*cking episodes (remember back in season 1 when we had a new plot every episode?). well i could ramble on about this for hours, but let's just leave it at this: i'm really not a huge fan of this season and it hasn't been very inspiring to continue the story, if you know what i mean. plus, i didn't know how to get to the 'end' (don't worry, it's not the end of the story, just the end of the chapter!) i'd planned and i sorta needed a few attempts to get this where i wanted... remember this is a romance/FRIENDSHIP fic! ;)  
at 'S': oh, don't worry, i'm fine, i've just been busy! there really is no need to worry ;)**

**so here goes your new chapter, please review if you like! review too if you don't, suggestions for improvements are always welcome!  
oh, and remember, this is elena's pov, even if it's third person narrative, so don't be confused about damon's reactions, you don't know what he's thinking! have fun, hana x**

"I hate Matt, I hate Matt, I hate Matt, I hate…"

"Oh shut up, Caroline. It won't come true even if you repeat your mantra another fifty times," Bonnie said annoyed and stripped off her sweaty top, stepping into the shower.

"I don't need it to come true because it already is!" Caroline shouted from her shower cabin.

"Stop exaggerating the situation, Care. What he did wasn't _that_ bad," Elena said, rolling her eyes.

"Oh yeah? Denying our date and that he said he liked me in front of all the others isn't_ that bad_? He made me look like a fool!"

Elena could literally _hear_ Caroline pouting through the shower walls. "At least he didn't call you a cheap little whore," she whispered too quietly for the others to hear. Louder, she added: "C'mon, give him a chance, haven't you seen the longing looks he's been throwing at you during training?"

"What was he doing there anyways?" Bonnie wondered aloud. "He's not even on the team."

"I don't know," Caroline said as she wrapped her towel around herself and stepped out of the shower. "He's been following me since the party. It's annoying."

"Oh, don't lie, Care," Elena smiled and peeked over the shower door into the locker rooms. "We know you love the fact that he's chasing after you."

"Maybe a little," her friend admitted and winked.

"Don't you think you've had him come running after you enough? I'm starting to feel sorry for him if you keep ignoring his attempts to talk to you," Bonnie said as she left her cabin. "He looked like a puppy that's been kicked in the face."

"Aw, it wasn't that bad," Caroline defended herself. "I just followed Elena's advice. And it totally worked out! The longer I ignored him, the more desperate he became! Just like in the movies when the girls play hard to get. He even came to cheerleader training and waited a full two hours just to talk to me."

"Who says he came because he wanted to talk to you?" Bonnie raised her eyebrow. "Haven't seen him make any attempts… All he did was sit there and stare at you… Or your ass."

"Bonnie!" Caroline exclaimed in mock-horror just as a knock sounded on the door.

"Girls," a voice sounded from the outside. "Are you all dressed? May I come in?"

"Speaking of the devil…" Elena purred from her shower as Bonnie giggled: "Did he just say 'may'?"

"Shut up," Caroline hissed at her friends and put her slipover over her head. "What do you want, Matt?", she asked in feigned annoyance.

"I just want to sort things out with you, Caroline," Matt shouted through the door. "Can you please come out so we can talk?"

Caroline hesitated and looked over at Elena's cabin where her friend whispered: "You've pretended to be 'hard to get' long enough now, Care."

The blonde girl looked shortly at her feet and then sighed. "Wait outside, Matt. We'll talk when I've finished dressing."

"Okay, I'll see you in a sec," Matt replied happily from the hall and left.

"Yay, yay, YAY!" Caroline shouted as soon as the sound of Matt's steps had faded away.

When she finished her little happy-dance, she suddenly stopped and regarded her friends in fear. "But wait… Is it even a good thing that he wants to talk? Doesn't that normally mean someone wants to break up with you?"

Bonnie looked at Elena and both of them started laughing. "Care, you should seriously stop watching Oprah. Now hurry up, Mr. Dreamy Eyes won't wait another two hours for you," said Bonnie and gave her friend a little push towards the door.

The blonde grinned happily and winked at the other two girls before walking out. "Don't wait for me," they heard her shouting in the hall.

"She's so cute sometimes," Elena smiled under the spray of the shower.

"I'd rather call it annoying," Bonnie sighed from the locker rooms.

"What's up with you today?" Elena asked knitting her eyebrows and turning off the shower.

"Nothing," Bonnie said and shrugged. "It's just that…"

"That what?"

"Nothing," Bonnie repeated. "I don't want to talk about it. I'd much prefer to talk about you and Damon instead."

"What about Damon and me?" Elena asked innocently as she wrapped a towel around her body.

Bonnie raised her eyebrows. "Hm, I don't know, how about you tell me why he and Mason had a fight because of you? Or why you've been ignoring him the whole week? Or why he's been writing messages to you during detention? Or why…"

"Okay, okay, okay," Elena retreated and stepped out of her shower cabin.

"Well?" her friend asked and cocked her head to the side.

Elena bit her lip. "It's… kind of embarrassing."

Bonnie's expression became sympathetic. "What did he do, Elena?" she asked as she sat down next to her friend on the benches.

Elena looked at her fingers. "Well… After Shane—you know—after that, Damon's changed, he always seemed like he paid extra-attention to what he said to me or how he acted around me. Like I would break any second if he made a suggestive comment or just touched my hand or something. So at the party, I suggested we played 'spin the bottle' and the bottle pointed to Alaric. So we kissed. But next time it was my turn, the bottle pointed to Damon. Or the other way round, doesn't matter. However, he looked at me like I was some sort of broken toy in his eyes and I couldn't bare his look. So I faked being sick and ran towards the bathroom—" At that Elena left out a little part of the story to prevent Anna's embarrassment "—but it was occupied, so Damon, who had followed me, and I went to another bathroom at the end of the hall." Elena licked her lips and quickly continued: "Um, he asked me if I was sick and when I said no, he asked me why I walked away from kissing him. So I told him why. And, I don't know, somehow we got into a fight because he said he didn't know how to act around me because of what happened and I told him that I asked him to act normal and then he said that if my 'normal' was sticking my tongue into strangers' mouths like a cheap little whore—" Bonnie gasped at that "—I shouldn't be surprised if the Shane thing repeats itself," Elena bubbled in a rush.

Eventually, she looked up at Bonnie, who sat there in silence, looking shocked. "That's when I slapped him across the face," Elena whispered now, her eyes switching back to her hands. "And outside in the hall, he wanted to talk to me, but obviously I didn't, and then there was Mason who thought Damon was harassing me and suddenly he and Damon were hitting each other and everything went out of control."

Elena avoided her friend's searching look and waited for Bonnie to say something. After a few moments of awkward silence, Bonnie asked: "So what did he write in that message from earlier today?"

Elena looked a little perplex at her friend. She had thought Bonnie would, like, curse or damn Damon or whatever, but not show no reaction at all to what she'd just told her. "I… Wait," Elena said and stood. She walked over to her locker and snatched a note out of it. She handed it to Bonnie. "Read for yourself."

As Bonnie read the message Damon had written to Elena, Elena stood in front of her, waiting for her friend's reaction. After what seemed like hours, Bonnie finally said: "So are you gonna let him explain everything?"

Elena stared at her friend. "I… I don't know," she finally answered. "Do you think I should?"

Bonnie bit her lip. "Uh, I don't know. I mean, calling you a cheap little whore was, like, the nastiest thing he could say to you in that situation, but I guess that's what you do when people you care about upset you."

"People you care about? You think Damon cares about me?" Elena asked and replied for herself a second later: "Of course he does. Otherwise he wouldn't have visited me on Saturday. And he wouldn't have organized a party just to get my mind off of things. He was a real friend, right?"

"Yes, he was," Bonnie said and looked up. "That's what's weird about the whole thing."

Elena knitted her eyebrows. "What do you mean?"

Bonnie licked her lips and searched the room with her eyes. "Look, the way he looks at you, the way he treats you, it's not the way Damon Salvatore usually treats girls. I've known him for almost two years now, and he usually behaves like women are some sort of hobby for him, you know, to have 'fun' with and stuff, but I've never seen him have any female friends or just hanging with girls when he's not about to seduce them."

"But, Bonnie, that doesn't have to mean anything. People change all the time. I mean, maybe he wants to have a female friend now. Why else would he have made such an effort to help me?"

Bonnie looked at her with big eyes. When she blinked, she said: "Maybe because he has feelings for you."

Elena sagged down on the bench next to Bonnie. "What?" she breathed out. "Why would you say that?"

"Because it's the only explanation for his change," Bonnie said. "I don't think he just decided that he wanted to have some female friends all of a sudden. There's got to be some reason for his change and that's the most probable there is in my opinion."

"So you're saying he fell in love with a _cheap little whore_?" Elena said and raised her eye brows. "I don't know, Bonnie, but I think all his actions speak more of a friendzone-relationship than anything else. I've never heard of a guy who called the girl he liked names like that."

"But, Elena, why would he say he was jealous of Ric if he didn't want you to kiss him instead of his best friend? I mean, I don't feel like kissing my friends and getting jealous if they make out with their boy/girlfriends."

"As you said," Elena said calmly, "Damon's never had any female friends. So I guess he just doesn't know how to behave or what to feel towards them. That's all."

"If you say so…" was all Bonnie said to that.

They finished getting dressed in silence. As Elena opened the door for Bonnie and herself to get out of the gym, she asked: "So… How are things going with _your_ guy?"  
"With Chris?" Bonnie said and smiled immediately. "Things are going great. He's asked me out for tonight. He's taking me to some fancy restaurant in the city." She looked down on her watch. "Dammit! It's already 7:30! He said he'd pick me up at 8! And I still have to dress up and apply some make up!"

"Calm down, Bon," Elena smiled. "I'm sure he doesn't mind if you're a little late. Though I don't understand why you need any more make up. You look beautiful with the natural one you're wearing right now, just mascara and a little lip gloss."

Bonnie blushed. "Thanks, Elena. But I feel a more confident with a little eyeliner applied. See you tomorrow, I guess?" she said as she threw her bag over her shoulder and hurried away. "It's probably getting late. Don't expect me to be home before curfew. Bye."

"Bye," Elena mumbled as she wrapped her scarlet scarf around her neck. It was still freezing cold outside.

"Hey," someone behind her said in a small voice.

Elena turned around and faced Damon, only a few feet away from her. "Hey," she said and smiled, but quickly forced it down. She didn't want him to think he'd be forgiven so easily. After a whole week of avoiding him and her conversation with Bonnie, though, she couldn't help but smile. Deep down, she knew she'd already forgiven him. But that didn't mean he'd have to know that already.

"Phew, I already thought you've somehow sneaked out when you weren't coming out. What took you two so long?"

"Um… Nothing, really," Elena said and looked at him, expecting him to make the first move with this.

After a moment in which they just stared at each other, he lowered his eyes to the ground and said: "I'm sorry Elena. I am so sorry. Believe me. I didn't mean what I said to you that night."

"Then tell me why you said it in the first place," Elena said. "Because I still don't get that part of the story. I would never call anyone anything that I didn't really think of them deep down at the bottom of my heart. Never."

"Oh really?" Damon challenged her. "You're saying you never _ever_ called your parents you hated them in the middle of a fight?"

Elena cringed. Damon was right. And it had hit her where it hurt the most. But she couldn't show it. _Cover up, Katie, come on_, Elena thought and tried to regain control over her sudden feeling of unbearable loss and unwelcome memories. "Course I did," she said guiltily. "But I said because I loved them and they'd upset me pretty badly! It was just a heat of the moment thing to say, nothing serious…"

"That's what I'm saying!" Damon interrupted her. "Don't you get it? I said it because of nothing. Because you upset me."

"What did I do to upset you?" Elena exclaimed.

"You kissed my best friend and ran away from kissing me!" Damon shouted.

Elena paused for a sec. "But why were you upset about that?" she asked, fearing his answer a little.

"Oh gosh, Elena, what do you think?" he asked exasperated and sighed towards heaven. Then he lowered his head again and looked at her, his icy blue eyes trying to make contact with her warm brown ones. "I was upset about it because I _like_ you," he said quietly and looked her deep in the eye. Elena's mouth opened as a mute gasp escaped her lips. She held her breath as he stepped a few steps forward, his eyes wandering to her mouth. WHen he stood only mere inches away from her, he looked up into her eyes again, eyeing her cautiously.

Elena couldn't do anything but stare at him in… Shock? Surprise? _Anticipation?_

There wasn't time for her to identify the emotion as Damon's hand already slid between her locks and he cupped her face, softly pressing his warm lips to hers. Against her better judgment, her tongue slid out and over his bottom lip, tasting a hint of peppermint that automatically had her leaning into him. His hand wrung around her waist and he pulled her towards him as a surprised gasp escaped Elena's lips, allowing Damon to slip his tongue into her mouth. When she felt it circling hers, she suddenly froze, realizing what they were doing. In a kneejerk reaction, she pushed him away and stumbled a few steps backwards.

Damon's right hand was still lifted up in the air, right where it had been sitting on her waist. He blinked at her in surprise, his cheeks slightly flushed, though she didn't know if it was from the cold or the kiss they'd just shared. His hand slowly fell down and the surprise in his eyes changed into hurt.

"I… I can't," Elena stuttered, "You… Can't."

"I can't what?" Damon asked hoarsely. He cleared his throat and continued in almost a whisper: "You told me to behave as if nothing's happened—that's what I would have done if nothing had happened," a desperate note in his voice.

"No, I mean…" Elena began and bit her tongue. She'd wanted to say 'you can't have feelings for me. Not after the short time we know each other. That's not possible.' But she realized that just because he kissed her, it didn't have to mean that he had feelings for her. According to Bonnie, Damon looked at girls as a matter of amusement for him. Maybe that's what she was for him… But no, that couldn't be. He'd just told her he liked her.

"Yeah?" Damon asked when she didn't finish her sentence.

"You can't like me like that," Elena blurted out, "You barely know me. You can't—"

"Don't tell me what I can and can't feel, Elena," Damon said, "I know it's weird, I've never thought that it happened so fast but… You know, I've never felt this way about anyone and—"

"But that also means that you don't know if it's that kind of feelings," Elena interrupted him, feeling like a caged animal trying to break out. "You're probably just feeling protective of me because of what Shane did and now you're mistaking it for feelings for me…"

"No, Elena, listen," Damon said, but Elena couldn't let go of her train of thought and babbled on:

"No, Damon, you listen," she said definitely, "You're wrong about those 'feelings' for me. You know, you don't seem like a guy who's got a lot of female friends that are just that, _friends_, no benefits, no 'drunk accidents', no nothing. So this is new ground for you. You don't know how to act around girlfriends let alone what to feel for them. And what you're feeling right now—that's not romantic feelings, it's _friendship_. And you're just a little confused because that's not something you ever connected with girls. That's all."

She took a deep breath and opened her eyes she hadn't noticed she'd closed. Damon stared at her, an indescribable emotion on his face. "Elena—"

"Please, Damon," she said, pleading, "_Please_. I don't need to have any more trouble or worries right now, it's enough as it is. What I need is a friend. Someone who understands me. Someone like you."

She looked at him with her doe eyes, desperation written all over her face, and his expression became gentler. "Maybe you're right," he finally said and took a step towards her. "Maybe I'm just mistaken. And I could use a real friend, too."

Elena raised her head a little, blinked and smiled relieved. "Thank you," she whispered.

He stepped forward and for a second, she thought he'd kiss her again, but all he did was wrap his arms around her and hug her to his chest. Smiling, she hugged him back and buried her face in his shoulder. This was all she needed. After all that happened to her, she wasn't ready to start a new relationship. She needed a friend she could trust and lean into, not someone who would leave her if things didn't work out. She needed something that remained in her life—for good.


End file.
